The Heart of a Jedi
by grrlgeek72
Summary: There is a small band of Rebels trapped on Hoth after the big battle. Obi-Wan Kenobi needs someone with the heart of a Jedi to help them. He uses the Force to bring the Snow Queen of Arendelle to the rescue. He is uncertain if he will be able to return Elsa and Anna to their home, however. Rated M for language, in particular the F-bomb plus a few others. No sex. Mild violence.
1. That's Not My Sister, It's a Blizzard!

****Author's Note: ****

**Remember the part in my profile where I said I would never do crossovers? It appears I lied...**

**So, we were sitting around google chatting one fine day, and my buddy says to me, "Hey, how about a Frozen/Star Wars crossover?"**

**Three weeks later, it's finished. **

**This story is rated "M" due to the language tossed around by people, primarily the f-bomb, although a couple of other naughty words are in there as well. No sexy time or anything else that would require the "M" rating. Mild violence.**

**Although I'm probably being a prude rating it "M" for the language, considering what kids are exposed to on TV these days. Showing my age, I guess.**

**IF this story took place in my headcanon storyline, it would be about a month after "Do The Magic!". Of course, it's not really in my headcanon storyline, since it takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away! The story is canon, as close to canon as I can manage, to "The Empire Strikes Back". Major Derlin actually had screen time in the flick, and he was played by John Ratzenberger!  
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**True story: I loved 'Star Wars' in 1977, so eagerly awaited 'Empire'. The first day of the film's release, I was at corporate headquarters in Greenwich, CT doing stuffy corporate things. Me and two buddies snuck out at lunch and went to see the first showing in Stamford, CT. We loved it so much we saw it again that night.**

**Hope you enjoy the story.**

**p.s. the AWESOME bookcover is by stillslightlynerdy.**

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><p>Queen Elsa of Arendelle and her sister Princess Anna had decided to spend a quiet day visiting the North Mountain and Elsa's Ice Palace. It had been almost a year since Elsa's disastrous coronation day when a secret that she had been hiding for thirteen years had been exposed to guests, dignitaries, and the entire population of Arendelle.<p>

The Ice Palace had been created that day when Elsa had fled her kingdom in shame and fear; her secret? She had the magic power to control ice and snow. After a childhood mishap had injured her sister Anna with her powers, Elsa had been taught by her parents to hide her magic from everyone, including her sister.

The three days after her coronation had resulted in Elsa almost killing her sister and almost dying herself in an attempted regicide by Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. Anna had saved herself and her sister by being willing to sacrifice herself to save Elsa from Hans' sword.

Since then, the two sisters had reconciled and become as close as could be hoped for, and Elsa's rule over her kingdom and her people was successful enough that no one bore any grudges for the winter in July they had endured until Elsa had learned to truly control her magic.

Elsa and Anna would occasionally spend a day traveling to visit the trolls in the Valley of Living Rock or enjoying the company of Olaf and Marshmallow, two living snowmen that Elsa had created that day, along with the Ice Palace. It was remote, and quiet, and they could just be two sisters instead of royalty. Kristoff had brought them up yesterday morning, and would meet them tonight to take them back to Arendelle. They were enjoying the day.

This day would be a little different, however. This day they would find themselves in someone else's story.

"Elsa, what's that funny light?" Anna asked her sister.

"What funny light?" Elsa walked out onto the balcony to join her sister. "Whoa! What is that?" Elsa exclaimed.

Anna looked at her with a frustrated expression on her face. "That's what I just asked you!"

The 'funny light' was a whirling vortex just above the balcony the two women were standing on. As they watched it got larger and brighter. Too late, they realized that it was going to engulf them.

"RUN, Anna!" Elsa screamed and grabbed her sister's hand to drag her away, but she wasn't quick enough. They were both swallowed by the whirlpool, which promptly shrank into a tiny point and then vanished.

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><p>"OOF. What just happened?" Elsa was the first to recover. She and Anna were sitting in what looked to be an endless field of snow drifts. The wind was blowing strongly, whipping snow and sleet around the two of them, reducing visibility to a few yards. Standing up, she reached out a hand to help Anna stand as well.<p>

Rubbing her behind, Anna asked, "Where are we? Did you set off another eternal winter?"

"No, Anna, this isn't me," Elsa said defensively. The subject of eternal winter was still a little bit of a sore point for the Queen of Arendelle. "I don't know where we are or what this is. Are you okay?"

Elsa was concerned for her sister. Fortunately, Anna was dressed for the cold even though it was summer; the Ice Palace was above the snow line on North Mountain, so Anna was wearing a winter woolen dress, heavy cloak, warm hat and mittens. Cold never bothered Elsa, and although her off-the-shoulder dress might not look it, was more than warm enough for her comfort.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But … where are we? What was that light?" Anna was looking around for some landmark that would give them some indication where they were, but there was nothing to be seen but featureless white blowing snow.

"I don't know. I think we need to try to find out, though." Elsa responded grimly. "Any ideas?"

"Well, it would be easiest to just walk with the wind at our backs and hope we find someone or some cabin or something before we … I … freeze to death." Anna wasn't joking, but she was worried about both of them.

"Even if I can't freeze to death, Anna, I'm just as vulnerable to starving to death as you are." Elsa reminded her.

"Funny you didn't think about that the night you built the Ice Palace." Anna smirked. It was an old joke between them. "Okay, lead on, oh Snow Queen!"

Elsa took a firm hold of Anna's hand, and the two of them began to walk. Unfortunately, with no landmarks and only limited visibility through the blowing snow, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't simply walk in circles until … Elsa refused to follow that thought to its logical conclusion.

They had been walking for about thirty minutes when there were some flashes ahead of them and some loud 'boom's. The sisters looked at each other and hurried their steps.

They became aware of a large, bulky shape looming up ahead of them. At first it was just a darker smudge in the snowy landscape, but became clearer as they drew closer. The shape suddenly resolved itself into something that looked like a large … elephant, kneeling with its head in the snow. But no elephant was this large, at least not in any book Elsa had ever read.

The women stood looking at the apparition for a few minutes, then walked up to it. Anna laid a hand on the 'head' and exclaimed, "Elsa, it's made of metal!"

They were stunned; so stunned that they didn't notice two figures coming up on them out of the storm from behind the metal beast. It was hard to see the two figures in any case; they were glad in all-white armor that blended into the blowing snow. When the two men got close enough to Elsa and Anna, they shouted, "Hands up you rebel scum or we'll blow you to hell!"

Startled, the two women whirled to face the voice. Both armored figures were carrying what looked like rifles, and at the sudden movement of Elsa and Anna, they fired. Anna was hit by what looked to be a beam of light and fell heavily. Elsa screamed, "Anna!" and blasted the two armored figures with her magic, encasing them both in a block of ice that immobilized them.

Sure that their attackers were no longer a threat, Elsa fell to kneel at Anna's side, cradling her sister. Anna had been shot in the stomach, a small neat hole with singed edges that was like no bullet wound that Elsa had ever seen before. There didn't seem to be any blood, which was a good thing, but Anna was writhing in pain, and Elsa knew from bitter experience that a gut wound like the one she was looking at could only be fatal.

"Anna, oh, Anna! Please stay with me. I can't lose you." Elsa was crying and rocking her sister in her arms.

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><p>"Ozzie, did you hear that?"<p>

"Yeah, sarge. Must be storm-troopers. Guess we didn't kill all of 'em when we took out that AT-AT."

The two soldiers were dressed in soft white and tan winter parkas, pants and warm headgear with goggles. They were part of the Rebel Alliance that was hiding out on the winter planet of Hoth. They HAD BEEN hiding out, until an Imperial probe droid had found them and brought a task force of Imperial Star Destroyers down on their heads. Now they were just on the run, the last forlorn hope left behind when the rest of the Rebel forces had escaped.

"OK, Smurfs, be careful...there may be more of those fucks around. Shoot first, we'll question 'em later." Sergeant Meera waved his squad forward toward the fallen AT-AT.

They didn't find any storm-troopers. Any living storm-troopers, at any rate. There were a couple frozen in a block of ice, and there were two women sitting on the ground nearby. One was lying in the other's lap. The one sitting up was crying and rocking the other and kept saying, "Anna, please don't die."

Meera's squad just stood there gaping. What in the hell were two women doing out in this storm? The one crying wasn't even dressed for the weather. She was wearing a shear, off-the-shoulder blue dress that shimmered like … ice. She suddenly noticed them standing there, and screamed, "Stay away!" while gesturing at them with one hand.

"Whoa, lady, we're not going to hurt you! Who are you and what happened?" Meera held his hand out to signal the squad to stand in place until he could sort this out.

"Those … knights … shot my sister. She's going to die!" The woman seemed on the edge of hysteria. The one lying down reached up to hold the crying woman's hand. She seemed to be in pain, holding her side.

"We can help. We won't hurt you! MEDIC!" Meera waved the squad medic forward. "We need to check for more of those storm-troopers, though! Is that okay?" He wondered why the hell he was asking a hysterical woman for permission to do his job. There was something about her, though...

She looked skeptical, but finally nodded. The medic knelt next to them and gently lifted the wounded woman's hand away from the injury and checked her out. The woman in blue stroked the injured one's forehead gently.

"Nothing to worry about here, ma'am. Just a through and through from a blaster. A little bacta and she'll be fine." He pulled out a tube of something from his pack, showed it to her, and packed some of it into the wound. "That'll hold her til we get her back to the med droid at base."

"She won't … won't die? I thought a gut wound was fatal?" the woman in blue asked him.

Now it was the medic's turn to be surprised. "Die? From a little hole like that? Where are you from? A blaster wound like that isn't fatal unless it hits you in the heart or the brain. You'd have to be really unlucky since everyone knows storm-troopers can't hit the broad side of a taun-taun. They're terrible shots!" he said and laughed.

While the med tech was taking care of the wounded woman, the rest of the squad checked out the damaged AT-AT. Sergeant Meera had orders to recover the comp memory bank if he could. They might be able to get some decent intelligence out of it if they were lucky. They found more bodies, but no more live Imperials. Meera wondered what had happened to the two troopers in the ice block; how had they gotten there?

After they finished searching the AT-AT and salvaging what they could, they returned to where the two women were sitting. The wounded one was sitting up, although still leaning on the one in the blue dress. Meera didn't understand why she hadn't already frozen to death in that get up.

"Fixed her up, Skippy?" Meera asked the medic. Where the nickname 'Skippy' came from, no one knew.

"Yeah, sarge. All right and tight. Nothin' serious, through and through from a blaster, cauterized, no major organs hit. Packed a little bacta in, the tank is free back at base, an hour in there and she'll be good as new."

Both women looked dazed and confused. Meera knelt on one knee and looked the one in the blue dress in the eye. "Miss, we need to get out of here before more Imperials show up. Can you walk?" He took the shaky nod for a 'yes', then waved a couple of the squad over to help the wounded woman to her feet and get her to the float tractor.

Once every one was settled, he tapped the driver on the shoulder and said, "Move it, Red. Get us back to base so we can fill Major Derlin in on what we found. Maybe he can figure out what to do with a couple of civilians in this frozen hell..."

The float tractor disappeared into the swirling snowstorm heading for what was left of Echo Base.

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><p>When they got back to the base, Meera had Skippy and a couple of troops help the women to the med bay where the med droid could take care of the wounded one. He was sure Major Derlin would want to talk to them, but it could wait until the med droid had done its job.<p>

"What did you find, Meera?" Bren Derlin was sitting in one of the abandoned offices. The squad had been left behind when the rest of the base had evacuated to the rendezvous point to escape from the Imperial Task Force. Most of the Imperial fleet had followed in an attempt to capture stragglers, leaving behind a single Star Destroyer to look for holdouts on Hoth's surface.

Derlin's squad was supposed to guard against those same Imperials. There were injured Rebels in what was left of the Echo Base's hospital. And a transport to get them off this ice cube. Unfortunately, the Empire forces had put up their own shield generator, and the Rebels were trapped on Hoth unless they could destroy it. Which wasn't going to happen. Derlin's squad was outnumbered and outgunned. The Imperials were guarding that shield generator like a mother wampa with only one cub.

Derlin's only plan was suicidal. Not that he would hesitate to execute even a suicidal plan if there was the slightest chance of success, but there simply wasn't. There was no way to get his squad close enough to take out the generator. All they could do was stay hidden and hope the Imperials got bored and left before the power ran out and they froze to death. As it was, they had to keep the base very cold so that the Impies didn't spot the energy signatures. Only the hospital rooms were heated to anything near normal, and they were heavily insulated to keep the heat from leaking out and betraying them.

"Nothing too interesting, Major. That AT-AT got its comp fried, so there was nothing to salvage from the memory bank. Lucky shot from some speeder, right through the front windshield. Fried the whole cockpit, plus the two fucks driving it."

Derlin just nodded. "What's this I hear about two survivors?"

The sergeant just shook his head. "I don't think they're survivors, not of that AT-AT at any rate. The Impies don't have women in their assault forces, and those two aren't dressed for the weather, either. I have no fucking idea who they are or where they came from. The wounded one was at least dressed in warm clothes, but the other one? I'll be damned if I can figure out how she wasn't as froze solid as those two storm-troopers in the block of ice."

"Yeah, and how did THAT happen?" Derlin asked his sergeant in a querulous tone. "Not sure how you create a block of ice, even on this ice ball."

Meera shrugged. "Maybe the two women can tell us. It won't take long for the med droid to fix up the one that got shot."

Derlin just looked skeptical. The two men began to review the status of their pitiful little band of Rebels again, hoping to figure out something that would get them out of this mess.


	2. We're Not In Arendelle Anymore

**Author Note: Sorry I wasn't clear yesterday: the story is completely written, and has EIGHT chapters. I will be posting one chapter a day. Reviews would be nice, since this story is a little out of my usual comfort zone.**

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><p>Skippy the squad medic and two troopers helped the strangers into the med bay, where the med droid waited for them.<p>

"OK, Farani, get her undressed and into the tank. An hour and she'll be good as new." Skippy ordered.

"Roger dodger, Skip. OK, lady, let's get you out of those clothes..." and he began to undress Anna, who was too woozy to object.

Elsa could object, though. "Wait! You can't take her clothes off! You're a … man!" she was shocked at the thought of her sister being naked in front of the soldiers, even though they had probably saved their lives.

Farani just looked at her in surprise. Man, woman, what difference did it make? This was a medical bay. But apparently these two women felt pretty strongly about the obsolete concept of body modesty, so he just shrugged and hollered, "Fixit! Get in here!" as he exited the room to let them have some privacy.

Elsa was hovering protectively over her sister who was sitting on a bed in the med bay. Two droids came in at Farani's summons: FX-7, known as 'Fixit', and 2-1B. Fixit looked like a skinny trash can with twenty appendages while 2-1B looked more like a person. Elsa, of course, had no experience with droids and had no idea what she was looking at.

TwoOneBee came over to Anna and asked her, "Are you strong enough to help us get you undressed?" in his metallic voice. She just looked at the droid, speechless.

Elsa was astonished, but not speechless. "Are you a knight? Why are you wearing armor?"

TwoOneBee looked at her and explained, "Madam, I am TwoOneBee, a medical droid of great skill and expertise. This woman has been wounded by an Imperial Mark-10 blaster rifle, and received first aid in the field by Medic Wes Fleetfire. We will now immerse her in the bacta tank to complete her healing process. If you are concerned, you may help her by getting her undressed and putting these garments on for use in the bacta tank." and the droid held out two white garments for Anna.

"What is a 'droid'? For that matter, what is a blaster? Or bacta?" Elsa was completely confused. None of these terms meant anything to her, but it seemed that they wanted to finished healing Anna by putting her in a tank of liquid. "If you put her in that tank of water, she'll drown!"

At this point, Skippy realized that the two strange women were totally unfamiliar with common medical techniques. And droids for that matter. He stepped up to Elsa to explain, "Ma'am, TwoOneBee is not a person in armor; he's a droid, a highly skilled robot that specializes in medicine." Elsa still looked as puzzled as she did when he started, but the med tech couldn't think of any other words to use to explain, so he just continued. "Fixit there is his assistant. We'll put a breathing mask on your … did you say, sister? ..." Elsa nodded and he went on, "So that she can breathe in the bacta tank. I promise, she won't be hurt. This will heal her in an hour or a little more, and she'll be as good as new."

Anna reached up to take Elsa's hand, "Elsa, let them do it. Whatever he did outside is starting to wear off, and I hurt. They don't seem to mean us any harm, wherever we are."

Elsa was still skeptical, but she really didn't have any choice. Wherever they were, it certainly wasn't Arendelle. Skippy left the room, just as Farani had, leaving the two women alone with the droids.

With a minimum of fussing, Elsa helped Anna get out of her clothes and into the two piece … garment that was scandalously skimpy but covered her privates and bosom for minimal modesty. Skippy returned to the room and helped Anna position the breathing mask, and they got her into the tank while Elsa wrung her hands anxiously. Anna gave her a little wave to indicate she was fine in the tank and could breathe.

"Ma'am?" Skippy touched Elsa's arm. "There's really nothing to see here until we get her out of the tank, and I think the Major would really like to talk to you and find out who you are and where you came from."

Elsa looked at him and nodded. She turned to Anna, but she looked to be sleeping. "Is she … is she asleep?"

"Yes, ma'am. Helps the healing process. She's fine. Come along now, I'll bet you could use some caf or something else for a pick-me-up, and the Major will have some in his office." Skippy tugged at her arm to lead her away.

A short walk down the hall to Major Derlin's office helped Elsa gather her wits about her. She was so confused. None of this made any sense; one minute she and Anna were on the balcony of the Ice Palace and the next they had been swallowed up by some swirling whirlpool of light that apparently brought them here, wherever 'here' might be.

Fleetfire rapped sharply on the door-frame and announced them. At the "Come" from the Major, he led Elsa into the office and indicated a chair for her to seat herself.

Derlin just looked at her dress and said, "By the Force, miss, how did you not freeze to death in that getup?"

Elsa just shrugged. She wasn't going into any detail about why cold didn't bother her until she knew more about her 'hosts'.

"Dismissed, Fleetfire. We'll talk later." Derlin nodded at the medic, who waved what could loosely be called a salute and left.

Elsa and the Major looked at each other speculatively for a few minutes. Derlin saw a slender young woman wearing an icy blue dress that was far too skimpy for the weather on this ice ball. Elsa saw a middle aged man in what was clearly a uniform that matched what the other troopers had been wearing, with what had to be rank tabs on the collar. His face was lined and grim; Elsa recognized worry lines when she saw them. This man clearly had stress and pressure to deal with.

Derlin cleared his throat and began, "Uh, ma'am. Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Elsa decided to tell him what she knew, which wasn't much. Maybe he could tell her where she and Anna had landed. "I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle, and the woman I am with is my sister, Princess Anna of Arendelle."

Before she could go any further, Derlin interrupted her, exclaiming, "Princess? The only princess we know of is Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. Do you know her?"

"Not Alderaan, sir, Arendelle. I have never heard of a kingdom called Alderaan," Elsa replied. "May I ask your name, sir?"

The major blushed; his manners had slipped. "Ahem, my name is Major Bren Derlin of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, ma'am. I am in command of a small squad of troopers tasked with getting the last of our wounded off this Force-damned ball of ice. A task I am afraid is doomed to failure. I'm sorry that you and your sister will fall victim to the Empire along with us."

Eyeing her, he went on, "And Alderaan is not a kingdom, it is … WAS … a planet, before the thrice-damned Empire blew it to hell." The last phrase was almost a snarl and his faced twisted in memory.

"A planet? Where are we, then?" Elsa was even more confused now. "And what is this 'empire' you speak of? Is it something that conquered this 'Republic' you mentioned?"

"This ice ball is named Hoth, ma'am. We had a base here for three years until the Empire tracked us down. And, yes, the Empire overthrew the Republic, a democratic government of thousands of planets. It happened so gradually no one saw it coming." he sighed. "I can't really sum up 30,000 years of human history, or even the last 30 years. All I can tell you is that we fight against the Dark Side, against the Emperor and his minion Darth Vader."

He sat up straighter in his desk chair, "But, you, ma'am, need to explain to me where you came from and why I shouldn't simply lock you up as an Empire spy!"

Elsa was still trying to absorb what she was being told. "I wish I could tell you how I got here, or why. I am the ruler of a small, peaceful kingdom named Arendelle. It is located in the north of Europe. On a planet, I guess you would say, that is called Earth. But I am not aware of any other planet that has life on it. Certainly humans have no capability to travel between planets where I come from."

"Earth? I have never heard of a planet called Earth. And how did you survive that blizzard in that dress? You should be as frozen solid as those two storm-troopers we found. And did you see how that happened?" he glared at her.

This put Elsa in an uncomfortable position. She was unsure that this man would believe her. Truthfully, she couldn't blame him, since she had no good explanation herself for how she and Anna had arrived on this … planet? She steeled herself and decided to tell him the truth, as much truth as she understood it.

"Major, I don't know how my sister and I arrived here. We were in my kingdom, enjoying an afternoon together, when suddenly a whirlpool of light appeared and swallowed us up. We found ourselves here, in the middle of a blizzard."

She shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "As to how we survived the cold, well, my sister was dressed for it because my kingdom can have weather similar to that here. I … I am immune to the effects of cold because of … my powers."

Derlin looked at her, "Powers?"

She nodded, "Yes, I was born with the power to control … snow and ice. This makes me immune to the effects of cold. I must confess that I am the one that froze those two … storm-troopers … when they attacked my sister."

Rather than being skeptical of her assertion about her magic, Derlin simply nodded. After all, the power to control the Force was uncommon, but was an accepted part of his worldview. He just assumed Elsa was talking about some variation of the Force when she said, "Powers".

"Freezing is too good for those bastards. I should thank you for saving my squad the trouble of killing them."

She was uncomfortable with his statement, but she had no basis for judging the situation. The two storm-troopers had attacked her and Anna, and she had defended herself. "Major, you said earlier that my sister and I were doomed along with you and your people. Could you tell me what you meant?"

"What I meant is, the Empire found this hideout and attacked us. We were able to get most of our people away, but there were wounded soldiers that had to get healed up before we could evacuate them. That's why I'm here, and the two med droids. We have one beat-up GR-75 transport to get us away. The only virtue of the GR-75 is that their hulls are impenetrable by imperial sensors and are additionally equipped with jammers, making them undetectable to imperial scanners. So, if we could get off this frozen hell, we could give that Star Destroyer the slip and get to the rendezvous point with the rest of the fleet."

As far as Elsa was concerned, he could have been speaking an obscure dialect of Russian for all the information his words conveyed to her. But she just nodded as though she was following along with him.

"Unfortunately, General Veers managed to drop a new shield generator before the rest of the Impies left, and we can't get through the shield. And I don't have enough troops to capture or destroy it. So it's just a matter of time before they dig us out of our hole and kill us all. Including you and your sister, I'm afraid." He shrugged apologetically at the look of horror on Elsa's face.


	3. Of Sporks and Ticklebumps

Major Derlin watched Elsa's face as he laid out the Rebels' forlorn situation. He felt bad that he had two civilians to deal with, and that they would probably die with the rest of his squad and the wounded when the Empire finally managed to find them. The woman certainly seemed to be shocked at what he told her.

"Ma'am? Would you like some caf? It's warm at least," Derlin offered.

Elsa just nodded, not really listening. She was still trying to understand everything that had happened. None of it was making any sense, it was simply too far out of her experience.

The Major handed her a mug of something brown and steaming. She thanked him and took a sip. It tasted like a strong coffee with just a hint of chocolate. She nodded appreciatively and sat, staring at the wall.

"Ahem, ma'am?" Derlin cleared his throat to get her attention.

She started and looked at him. "I'm so sorry, Major. My mind is whirling like that mysterious light. This entire situation is so strange to me I'm having a hard time absorbing it and making any sense of it. What do you intend to do with us?" She was concerned that he would treat them as enemies. From what he had said, this 'Empire' had nothing to recommend it, and if she and Anna were suspect, she could hardly blame him for locking them up. Or worse.

"Well, there's not a lot to do. We have enough food and water to last us well past the time our power cells will run out. My only option at this point is to get everyone aboard the transport in a few days, take my squad and make an attempt to take out the generator. It's unlikely we'll succeed, but it's the only chance the transport has to get away. I'll put you and your sister aboard it with the rest. You'll have as good a chance of surviving as they will. Not that it's a good chance, mind you. But it's a chance."

He held his wrist to his face and started talking, "Roz, get in here." Elsa wondered why he was talking to his wrist.

"In the meantime, I'll have Sergeant Frazona take you back to collect your sister and show you to a room where you can bunk." He looked at her, "We probably have some uniforms that would fit you, they would be warmer than that dress, and probably warmer than the getup your sister was wearing."

"Ah, thank you, Major. Your kindness to strangers is quite welcome." Elsa wasn't sure if she wanted to wear one of the uniforms he was talking about, she was used to skirts, not pants, but it would at least make her and Anna less conspicuous.

A female trooper knocked on the door, "You bellowed, skipper?"

"Yeah, Roz... Ah, ma'am, this is Sergeant Khaylia Frazona, she'll show you back to the med bay, then help you and your sister get settled. Roz, this is … " and he realized he had forgotten her name.

"Elsa, Sergeant. My name is Elsa, and my sister is Anna." Elsa decided this was no time to explain royal titles.

"Call me Roz, ma'am. Everyone else does," the woman eyed Elsa's dress with a mixture of skepticism and puzzlement. "Aren't you cold? It can't be much above freezing in here."

"No, uh, Roz. I'm immune to cold." Elsa left it at that.

Derlin interjected, "Force powers, Roz. She apparently has some kind of Force powers."

Elsa wondered just what this 'Force' was that they were talking about. Maybe someone would explain it later.

"Swell. Well, come on, I'll take you to med bay and then to the cubicle you can use." Roz turned to leave and Elsa hastily got up to follow her.

"We'll talk again after dinner, Elsa," the Major called out as she left his office.

It was a short walk back to the med bay. When they arrived, Anna was sitting on a bed, wrapped in a white robe of some kind, her hair still wet. She was chatting with the … droid … that Elsa remembered was called TwoOneBee. Anna would chat with anyone and any thing. Elsa smiled at her sister, relieved at how she looked to be completely healed.

"Elsa! Hey, look, I'm all healed! Not even a scar!" and she held open the robe to show Elsa.

Who was appalled at the amount of skin Anna was showing and squeaked, "Anna! Cover yourself up!"

"Why? 2-1B isn't a man, he's just like Olaf, and we're naked around Olaf all the time, and it doesn't bother you!"

Elsa felt her face getting warm and knew it was probably turning bright red. Anna had no sense of propriety at times. Well, most of the time. ALL the time. It was a miracle that Arendelle didn't know all about her underwear. Certainly Anna had scandalized the nannies to no end with that item of clothing...

Roz stood there watching the interplay with a neutral expression on her face. "Uh, Elsa, why don't we get your sister dressed, and I'll show you the cubbyhole where you can sleep."

Anna looked at her and said, "Hi, I'm Anna, since my sister is apparently too embarrassed for proper introductions! And you are?"

"Call me Roz. Here, put these on." and Roz pulled a set of clothes out of a drawer. "You need to dry that hair before you leave here, this is one of the few rooms we keep warm." She handed Anna a portable hair dryer. Anna had no idea what it was.

"Uh, how is this going to dry my hair?" Anna asked.

With an exaggerated eye-roll, Roz reached over and touched the "on" patch on the dryer, which immediately began blowing heated air out of the nozzle. Anna nearly dropped in in her surprise, but figured it out and was delighted to feel the hot air blowing on her head.

Of course, what this did to her unruly hair had to be seen to be believed. Elsa simply buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

When Anna's hair was dry, Roz handed her a hair brush. This was one thing that the two women from Arendelle actually recognized. Elsa took it and said, "Here, Anna, let me help." She deftly brushed Anna's hair free of snarls and quickly braided it into two neat braids. "There."

"Thanks, Elsa. So, Roz, did you say?" Anna asked, "Can you please hand me those clothes?"

Anna quickly dressed and looked at herself in the white and tan uniform. "These ARE warmer than my clothes. Thanks!" Roz just shrugged and looked at Elsa.

"I'll dress in this … cubicle … you mentioned, thank you." Elsa was not about to undress in front of anyone except her sister.

"Suit yourself. Come on," and the trooper led the two women out into the hall and through a maze of passageways until she stopped in front of a door and pressed a button next to it. Elsa and Anna were startled when the door opened with a quick 'whoosh'.

The room was small, about 3 meters by 3 meters. There was a bed, a chair, and a shelf that swung down from the wall. The bed looked roomy enough for both of them, and there wasn't a lot of room left over for standing around.

"You can store your stuff in the drawer under the bunk. 'Fresher is across the hall." Roz told them.

"What's a fresher? Fresher than what?" Anna asked.

Another eye roll. "Seriously? What fucking backwater planet are you from?"

Elsa sighed. "We are from a place called Arendelle, sergeant, and all of this is totally strange to us. You may as well be speaking a language we've never heard before."

Roz shook her head and said, "Come on, then, I'll show you..." and walked them into the 'fresher. It was a communal facility, and two troopers were standing at the urinals. They didn't even look at the new arrivals, simply finished, refastened their pants and walked out past the three women. Elsa felt herself blushing again.

The sergeant pushed open the door to one of the booths. "Here, auto-clean and flush. Just squat, do your business, and give it a minute to clean you up."

Anna immediately had to try it. "Squee! That gives me tickle bumps!" as Elsa heard a splashing sound and then noise not dissimilar to that made by the 'hair dryer'. Anna's face was red when she came out of the booth tugging to adjust the pants she was wearing, but Elsa thought it was excitement rather than embarrassment. "You have to try this, Elsa! It beats the hell out of tinkling in the woods!"

Definitely not embarrassment. "Not right this minute, Anna." Elsa was not as open to new experiences as her sister.

"Okay, chow in half an hour. Down that hall on the right. You can't miss it." Roz waved vaguely as they exited the 'fresher. "Can you open your door yourselves, or do I have to show you again?"

"No, thank you, I think we will be okay. Thank you, sergeant." Elsa replied.

"Roz, we aren't much for rank around here."

"Thank you, Roz," Elsa found herself talking to the woman's rapidly departing back. "Come, Anna."

They returned to 'their' room and managed to get the door open. Anna flopped onto the bed and exclaimed, "Wow, this beats feather-beds all to hell!"

"Anna! Language!" Elsa couldn't believe it. They had been here for less than a day, and Anna had already picked up bad habits.

Anna laughed and stuck her tongue out at Elsa. "Stinker! Relax, will you! They don't know," she paused for emphasis, "shit about queens and princesses here, let your hair down for a change!"

Elsa groaned and sat heavily on the bed.

"Anna, we may be stranded here; we may never get back to Arendelle. Think, will you? If we never return, what will Kristoff think? Or the rest of the kingdom?" She didn't have the heart to give Anna the rest of the bad news yet; that they may very well die here in the next few days.

Anna sobered at this comment; she really hadn't thought of that. All the new experiences had been too exciting for her to stop and think about what their presence here could mean. "Never get back?"

"Yes, the Major has no idea how we got here, and certainly has no idea how to get us back. He's never heard of Arendelle." Elsa thought of something else. "Are you really healed? What did that tank of liquid do to you?"

"Yeah, not only is that wound healed with no scars, all my other scars are gone, too. Even that one from Pierre's knife!" Anna pulled up her jacket and shirt to show Elsa. "See? Not a mark on me!"

Elsa looked closely at Anna's abdomen, and it was true; the skin was as soft and unmarked as the day Anna had been born. Considering Anna's penchant for falling out of trees and skinning knees and elbows, it was a remarkable display of medical science. Elsa shook her head. "It is amazing. Wherever we are, we're not in Arendelle anymore, Anna."

Anna pulled her clothes back down and looked up at Elsa with concern. "Where do you think we are?" But Elsa had no answer.

A loud gurgle from Anna's stomach made Elsa laugh. "I think we should go find the dining area. Come on." And she held out her hand to help Anna get off the bed. The two women left the room and went in the direction Roz had told them the dining area was.

The dining hall was a medium sized room with small tables. There were about twenty people seated at the tables already, eating out of small square boxes. Major Derlin spotted them at the door and waved them over to sit with him.

"Here, ladies, not a very sumptuous repast, but filling at least." He waved at two boxes sitting on the table. Elsa and Anna sat, but had no idea what to do with the boxes. Elsa picked one up. There was a metal tab and something that looked like a cross between a spoon and a fork stuck to the box.

"Major, I'm afraid this is something else we're unfamiliar with," Elsa told him. _"Like everything else on this world, whatever and wherever it is..." _she thought to herself. She hated the feeling of helpless ignorance that threatened to overwhelm her.

"No problem. Pull that spork off, then pull the tab. The meal will heat up, then the top will pop itself open when it's ready. Use the spork to eat it. Don't touch the container while it's heating; it can burn you."

Elsa and Anna did as he instructed, watching in fascination when the container opened up. Peeling the top back carefully, they sniffed at the aroma of the heated food. Digging a bite out gingerly with the 'spork', Anna tasted it.

"Not exactly a state dinner, but not bad. Tastes like chicken."

Encouraged by this, Elsa dug into her meal and commented, "Mine has some sort of beef stew."

Major Derlin grinned. "We call them all 'mystery meat'. All synthetic, grown in the yeast vats and stored here for Sith knows how long. But guaranteed to provide 100% of your daily calories and nutrients, ladies."

Compared to everything else they had seen today, 'synthetic' food was the least of the wonders of this world.

The soldiers seemed to be socializing rather than leaving as soon as they finished their meal. Elsa watched everyone for a while, thinking that it looked and sounded like the interaction she had watched in her own castle when she spent time with her guard. Some things apparently were universal across … planets? Anna was chatting happily with Major Derlin and the sergeant that had found them in the snowy landscape. Heaven knew that she and Anna had no secrets to keep from them. And they owed them their lives.

Elsa listened for a while. Finally, the Major said, "Well, you two must be tired. Is your room satisfactory?"

"Yes, thank you, Major. It's fine." Elsa replied and Anna nodded happily. Elsa hadn't changed out of her ice dress, so she was the object of many sideways looks from the troopers. She thought she would try to blend in tomorrow by dressing as Anna had.

"We'll talk more in the morning, then." and the Major and the sergeant nodded at them and left. Elsa saw them discard their empty meal container down a chute of some sort near the door.

The two women got up and followed the Major's example, then they returned to their room. Looking around, Elsa wondered how to darken the room. It would be difficult to sleep in such bright light, which seemed to come from the entire ceiling.

"I wonder how you turn the lights off..." she began to say to Anna when a metallic voice repeated, "Lights off." and the room got dark.

"Wow, Elsa, that was neat. How did you do that?" Anna exclaimed.

"I didn't do that," Elsa protested.

"Maybe it understood your voice. LIGHTS ON!" Anna spoke loudly. The metallic voice repeated, "Lights on." and the ceiling lit up again.

"Yep, it understands us when we talk." Anna stood with her hands on her hips in satisfaction.

"How extraordinary!" Elsa had to admit. "Lights off!" she commanded, and the room obeyed. The two women got into the bed.

Lying in the bed under thick blankets, Anna snuggled into Elsa's arms. "Wow, it certainly is cold, even if you don't think so..."

Elsa chuckled. "No, I'm fine. Are you warm enough?"

Anna nodded, and they started to fall asleep. They were awakened by a bright light that seemed to be a person standing in their room. Was it a ghost? Elsa held Anna closer and readied herself to use her magic if necessary. The apparition seemed to be an elderly, bearded man who looked at them in a kindly manner. He was wearing a brown cloak over a tan and white robe with a sash.

"Who are you?" Elsa demanded.

The apparition bowed to her and replied, "Queen Elsa, my name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I need your help!"


	4. That's Not Really An Explanation

"Are you a … ghost?" Elsa stammered.

"In a way, Queen Elsa. I am no longer on your plane of existence. I am only able to communicate with you because your magic is similar enough to The Force that I can tap into it. That's how I was able to transport you here to Hoth with the Force Portal."

"Why have you brought us here?" Anna asked. The question startled the apparition.

"Us?" he asked.

"Yes, your 'portal' brought both me and my sister here." Elsa told him.

"I am sorry, that was not my intent." Obi-Wan seemed troubled.

"Why did you bring us here? We have no understanding of this world." Elsa pressed him again.

"These people need your power to escape the Empire. I brought you here because it was the only way to rescue them. Your power will help Major Derlin destroy the shield generator and allow them to flee this planet."

Anna piped up again. "Seems like kind of a drastic way to solve a problem. How far away from home are we, anyway?"

Obi-Wan answered, "There is no way to measure the distance. You are actually in another time and another galaxy far from your home. Only the power of The Force allowed me to pierce that barrier and bring you here. Your sister's power is that strong."

"You keep talking about The Force, what is that? Major Derlin was talking about it, too." Elsa asked him.

"Well, the Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together." Obi-Wan said to Elsa.

Anna pouted, "That's not really an explanation, you know."

Obi-Wan admitted, "I realize it may not be enough to help you understand. Suffice it to say that it exists, and your sister's power is one aspect of it. If you had been born in this galaxy, Elsa, you would be one of the most powerful Jedi Masters ever seen."

Elsa shook her head. "I just want to go back to Arendelle. Will you take us there if we help Major Derlin?"

The question seemed to trouble Kenobi. "I hope to. In truth, I cannot guarantee it."

"So you brought us here without knowing if you can return us to our home?!" Elsa was getting angry now; not so much for herself but because Anna had apparently been dragged along unintentionally. "My sister was to be married; her fiance may never know what happened to her. By bringing both of us here, you have left my kingdom with no clear heir; it could fall into chaos!"

"I can only say how sorry I am. My intention was simply to bring you here, Queen Elsa." Kenobi seemed genuinely apologetic for what could only be his error.

"Sorry isn't going to get us home!" Elsa almost shouted. "What kind of confused old man are you to do something so irresponsible?"

"I can only apologize again. But the risk was necessary." Kenobi said.

"Why? Why was it necessary to kidnap me and my sister and bring us here?" Elsa demanded.

"One of the wounded … will become the mother of a powerful Jedi that has a role to play in the future of the new Republic. If they do not survive, the new Republic will not stand, even after the Empire is destroyed." he explained. "If it were not so critical to the survival of millions, I would not have chosen this path for you."

Elsa was fuming. If this Kenobi had simply ASKED, explaining what he wanted from her, she probably would have agreed. As long as Anna was left behind, so that her life was not disrupted, and so that she could be Regent in Elsa's absence. And could take the throne if Elsa never returned.

"You leave me no choice, do you?" she spat.

"There is always a choice. However, if you choose to do nothing, I will still attempt to send you back to your home."

The two women had sat up when Obi-Wan had first appeared. Elsa's shoulders slumped, and Anna put her arm around her sister and snarled at the apparition.

"You knew she wouldn't run off after we found out what was going on here, didn't you?" Anna was angry.

"She has the heart of a Jedi; I knew she would help. I didn't intend for you to be dragged into this." Kenobi seemed genuinely chagrined.

Elsa shook off her slump. "I'll help. Just get my sister back to Arendelle."

Anna thumped Elsa on the arm and pouted at Kenobi. "WE'LL help. Forgive my sister; she keeps forgetting that I'm her strong left hand!"

Elsa shook her head in surrender. She always lost this argument with Anna. "Okay, WE'LL help. But Major Derlin thinks we're Empire spies and isn't quite trusting of us. How do we convince him to let us help?"

"Tell him that Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi brought you here to help him," was Kenobi's response. He started fading. "I will see you again when I can..." and he was gone.

The two women sat for a moment, then Anna snickered, "THAT just happened. Well, at least we know how we got here."

Elsa wasn't so sure. "Do we? Or are we in some sort of fever dream? Maybe we fell off that balcony in the wind and hit our heads and we're both dying in that chasm..."

"Elsa, you are always so fucking pessimistic!"

"ANNA! Where are you picking up that language?!" Elsa was offended.

"What? Everybody talks like that around here." Anna was puzzled.

"These are soldiers, Anna, soldiers talk like that in barracks. Queens and princesses don't!"

Anna shrugged. "Well, until we are back in Arendelle and have to be queen and princess again, I say, let it go!"

Elsa just glowered at her as she started for the door. Slapping the door button and waiting for it to open, Elsa said, "Go back to sleep. I need to talk to Major Derlin." And she left the room.

* * *

><p>Elsa was confused about how to find the Major, but she asked a passing trooper, got straightened out and found herself knocking on the Major's door. "Enter!"<p>

Derlin was sitting on the side of a cot in his office. "Elsa. What in the name of the Force are you knocking on my door at this hour for?" She had clearly woken him up.

"I would apologize, Major, but this is important. Does the name 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' mean anything to you?"

"Of course it does. But I would have to ask how it means anything to YOU if you are who you say you are." He eyed her with a look of suspicion. Elsa groaned internally. She needed him to trust her, and this seemed to make him more wary of her, not less.

"Because he just appeared to my sister and me to explain that he brought us here to help you." Elsa explained.

That woke him up. "What?" He stood up and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I think this calls for caf. Come along and you can explain this to me."

He waved her toward the door, and they walked to the room used as a cafeteria. Like all such rooms where soldiers or others worked around the clock, the caffeinated beverage dispensers were working. Derlin got two mugs of caf and motioned with them to Elsa to take a seat. At this hour, there were only a few of the troopers sitting around, although there was a steady stream of people coming in, getting mugs of the steaming beverage, and leaving again. They sat, and Derlin placed one mug of caf in front of Elsa, then took a long pull of his own drink.

"Okay, please start from the top. Maybe now I have enough active brain cells to understand what you're trying to tell me."

Elsa recounted the conversation with Kenobi. Derlin watched her face intently, clearly trying to catch her in a lie. When she finished, he shook his head and drank the last of his caf. She sipped at her own, although it was cooler now.

"So, how are you supposed to help us?"

Elsa was startled. She had thought that Derlin would know. "I don't know...shouldn't my power be able to help you destroy this shield generator thing?"

"It depends. What can you do with your power?"

This question stymied her for a moment. "What do you need it to do?"

"Kill every storm-trooper on this fucking ball of ice!" he snarled. He wasn't angry at her; he was angry at the situation he found himself in.

His vehemence startled her. She still didn't understand the depths of hatred for the Empire that seethed inside the people in this base, inside him. How could she? She hadn't lived through the terrors of the billions of lives lost on the whim of the Emperor, or his designated executioners like Tarkin or Vader. Derlin had said it to her when they first met; he couldn't sum up 30 years of history in an afternoon.

The thought of killing still haunted her nightmares. She had killed in self defense. Once. It had … changed her. But she still considered killing to be a last resort. Suddenly she remembered the two storm-troopers she had encased in ice when they had shot Anna. Okay, twice. She had been so distraught about Anna, thinking that she would die, that she had completely forgotten the two men she had killed, for they were certainly dead now. _"Elsa, what is wrong with you? You killed two men with no more thought than swatting a fly."_

Derlin saw the play of emotion cross her face. Distaste. Startlement. Then disgust. "What? Killing not your cup of tea, Your Majesty?" he sneered. He had misinterpreted her expression as being a judgment of him, when she was really judging herself.

Elsa didn't realize the misunderstanding, and chose to ignore what seemed to be his contempt for her. "Not generally, no, Major. Forgive me, but it isn't something I have had to personally do very often. As a ruling monarch, of course I have dispensed justice to murderers and traitors. And I have killed in self defense. Twice. But it still troubles me."

"Shall we speak of justice, then? The Empire has killed billions of people, for no better reason than to show its power. Remember what I said about Alderaan? That planet was totally destroyed by the Empire, with no warning. Every man, woman, child, dog and cat died a horrible death. Those are the people we are dealing with. This is a war to the knife, I'm afraid, and niceties are hard to come by. If those bastards find us before we can destroy that generator, we're all dead. Including you and your sister. There will be no mercy." He hoped he could get this … civilian ... to feel the terror the Empire could dispense so casually. She needed to feel it in her gut, or she and her sister would become just two more victims of the evil of the Dark Side.

He stood suddenly, went to get another mug of caf, downed it in one gulp and then returned to sit with her. She had simply stayed at the table, a troubled look still on her face. She was staring at her hands, wringing them on the table in front of her. He sat down, and she looked up at him to listen to whatever else he had to say to her.

He continued his thought as if nothing had intervened. "For that matter, a quick death will be a mercy. Anyone they capture alive will be questioned with their fucking torture bots. With the drugs, that can last a long time. If you and your sister are captured, your impossible stories will have them digging into your brains until either they finally believe it, or you're dead. My advice? If you see you're about to be captured, shoot your sister, than yourself. It's a cleaner death." He was breathing hard, his eyes flinty and unfocused.

Elsa shuddered. The mercy stroke. She had been afraid that Anna would need that once, she had steeled herself to give the order if necessary, but it would have killed her, too, to do it. It seemed they were both in such a dilemma now.

"Let's see if we can use my powers to avoid all of that, Major. And that when we get you off this planet, Kenobi can return my sister and me to our homes." Elsa was shaken, but determined. Derlin just nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**Leave it to Anna to make the comment that's been on the mind of every Star Wars fan since 1977!**


	5. The Bad-Assed Queen of Arendelle

Elsa and Major Derlin returned to his office. He turned to her before they entered, "Look, you've given me a lot to think about. We both need some sleep. Let's get some, then talk about this in the morning. We have two days before we have to make a move, it will take that long for the worst of the injured to heal enough to be transported. Even bacta has some limits. I'll see you at breakfast, then we'll talk."

She nodded, but had to ask once again for directions to the room she shared with Anna. This time, she vowed to memorize the route.

When she returned to the room, Anna was asleep, snoring softly and her hair already totally disheveled. Elsa smiled with affection, then crawled in and wrapped her arms around her sister without waking her. She was asleep in minutes.

* * *

><p>"Wake up, Elsa, someone knocked on the door and hollered 'breakfast'." Anna shook her sister's shoulder to wake her.<p>

"Mm-mm...isn't this usually me waking you up?" Elsa pushed herself up on one elbow and brushed her hair back from her face.

"Yeah, well, first time for everything...come on, I'm starving!" Anna bounced on her feet waiting for Elsa to get out of bed.

"Washing up? Clean clothes?" Elsa always was the fastidious one. She began pulling on the uniform she had been given. Today she didn't want to be so conspicuous.

"Uh, considering how cold it is, I'm guessing a quick rinse in the 'fresher is all we get." Anna replied.

The two women went down the hall to the 'fresher and went in. There was a mixed group of men and women washing up at the sinks, in various states of undress. Elsa used one of the booths and discovered that Anna was right about the tickle bumps. Then she washed her hands and face after observing the others use what were apparently hot air blowers for drying off. When both women had finished their morning hygiene, they went down to the communal dining room to eat.

They saw a slot where everyone was getting their food packs and joined the line. Elsa took their two meal packs and sat down while Anna went to get two mugs of caf from the beverage dispenser. When she returned to sit with Elsa, they pulled the tabs to heat their meals and dug in with the attached sporks. This morning's meal tasted somewhat like scrambled eggs and had chunks of meat in it.

"Imagine what cook would say if we told her about this." Anna chuckled. Elsa laughed softly and shook her head. If … no, **when** they got back, there wasn't any way to tell anyone about this experience without being thought mad. Maybe Kristoff would believe them, but for sure no one else would.

They had gotten about halfway through their meal when Major Derlin joined them. "G'morning, ladies. Sleep well?"

Anna nodded and Elsa shrugged. "And you, Major?" she asked politely.

"Actually, not a wink. I spent the time thinking about what you told me and trying to figure out some way to use your powers to help us. I think I may have some ideas, which I'd like to run past you in my office."

"By all means." Elsa finished her caf. Derlin looked at Anna speculatively. "What?"

"Does your sister have any powers?" Derlin asked.

Anna couldn't resist, "Just the power of adorkableness! And I'm pretty feisty!"

Derlin couldn't help but chuckle. Anna's exuberance was contagious, even though they were in a situation that had to improve to be called 'dire'.

"Well, then, you should probably get some basic weapons training before we attack the generator." He looked around the room and raised his voice, "Roz, hey Roz, come here!"

The sergeant rolled her eyes, shrugged at her companions and joined them. "You summoned me, oh great and powerful leader?"

"If we weren't all going to die an ugly death soon, I'd have you up on charges of insubordination, Roz. Lucky for you, we ARE all going to die, so you're off the hook. I need you to run Anna here through some basic weapons training in the VR tank."

"Ah, Major, really?" she groaned. Just what she needed, appointed nursemaid to a total newb.

"Yes, really. Miss Anna, if you would please go with Roz, she will show you enough so you won't be dangerous with a blaster. Well, except to the Impies..."

Elsa had watched this interaction in dismay, and would have stopped it except the Major's words from the night before came back to her. _"If you and your sister are captured, your stories will have them digging into your brains until they finally believe it, or you're dead." _ Maybe some basic weapons training wasn't such a bad idea. Anna had trained in fencing techniques with the guardsmen in Arendelle, and if it did nothing else it had given her more confidence and better coordination. Elsa still had no intention of letting Anna come along on anything dangerous. When the time came, Elsa would make her sister stay with the transport until the shield generator was destroyed.

Anna left her empty meal pack for Elsa to deal with and skipped along after Roz. The older woman had a look on her face that Elsa recognized only too well. She knew it was on her own face often enough when dealing with an overenthusiastic Anna back in Arendelle. Elsa sighed, mentally wishing Roz luck with her exuberant sister, and picked up both empty meal packs and mugs and followed the Major out of the dining room after disposing of them.

* * *

><p>Once back in Derlin's office, Elsa sat and asked, "What are your thoughts, Major?"<p>

"Let me show you." His fingers tapped something on his desk. A light projected above it, showing what looked to be a map. Elsa gasped. Another wonder that was outside her experience. She felt a headache coming on. The stress of the situation and the continual barrage of wildly different experiences was getting to her.

Derlin looked at her when she gasped. "What? It's just a holo. Wait, you don't have them in Arsdelle."

"Arendelle," Elsa corrected automatically, "and, no. Don't bother explaining what it is or how it works, I won't understand it anyway. I get that it is showing us a map?"

"Yes. Here is where we are, and here is the shield generator. The transport that dropped the Impies is parked nearby, and most of the storm-troopers guard the generator. Because of the cold, they change shifts every two hours. A snow or ice storm screws up their sensors, but, unfortunately, the weather is supposed to be clear and really, really cold for the next couple of days." He had been pointing at red markings on the projection hanging above his desk.

"So what are you thinking?" Elsa asked.

"Can you use your powers to generate a storm?" He looked at her through the map.

"Yes, of course."

"That simple?" he asked.

"Well, yes. I can also throw up ice barriers, impale people on ice spikes and create sentient life." Elsa's voice got a little sarcastic with that last, but her headache was making her cranky.

"I just asked, Elsa. Please, I'm not trying to minimize your powers." Derlin frowned. "No need to make wild ass claims."

She assumed he meant the 'sentient life'. She wished Olaf was here. No, no she didn't. She wished she and Anna were home **with** Olaf.

"Sorry. A little headache this morning." She decided to pretend she had made a small joke. She would NOT create any snowlems here.

She forced a smile, "Forgive me, Major. This whole experience has been … overwhelming … and I must apologize for not being my most courteous. I assure you, I can create as large and as howling a storm as you would like. The climate and existing snow and ice will make it very easy for me."

Derlin accepted this and tried to be a little less gruff himself. She was literally a stranger in a strange land, and he did need her help.

"Thank you, Elsa. You're my only hope of getting us off this planet alive. I haven't been at my best, either, trying to think up a way out of this trap."

They took each other's measure for a moment or two, then Derlin continued, "I think if you can create a large enough storm, we can approach the generator undetected. We'll destroy it, then try to fight our way back here and board the transport."

Elsa thought this over. "Can you set an explosive charge of some sort that would give us time to get away? I have no objection to dying if it's our only choice, but I would prefer to live."

He contemplated this suggestion, then agreed, "I'd prefer to live through this as well. If we attack their transport while a small group of sappers sets the explosive, the confusion should be enough to keep them from realizing we are really after the generator. They might assume we were looking to hijack their ship as an escape vehicle. With a fierce enough storm, the sappers should be undetected long enough for us to make the feint look real, then disengage under the cover of your powers." He looked at her speculatively. "Were you serious about the ice barriers and spikes?"

"Yes, I was."

"So, when we approach their transport, you can seal it in ice, and maybe trap some of the storm-troopers in more ice?"

She nodded. Whatever it took to get Anna safely back to Arendelle.

"I think we have a plan. Can you start the storm, say, twelve hours before we attack? That way, they won't realize we're coming, and it will wear out the storm-troopers they use as guards on the generator."

She nodded again. It would tax her, but she could do it. The planet's climate itself would help. "Just be aware that it will tire me out. I'll need to eat and drink quite a bit to keep my strength up while this is happening."

"No problem. We have some drugs that will help. You'll crash from the high afterwards, but for 24 hours you'll have all the energy you need." He sighed. "If we haven't won by then, well..." He left the rest unspoken. She didn't need him to spell it out. If they hadn't won by then, they'd all be dead anyway.

* * *

><p>Anna followed Roz to a small, empty room. There were what seemed to be 'blasters' racked on one wall, and some helmets sitting on a shelf next to them.<p>

"Okay, Anna. We're going to put a VR helmet on you, then key the practice blaster to the helmet. I'll run a training simulation. Just shoot anything that moves, and we'll see how good you are."

"Ooookay." Anna had no idea what the woman was talking about, but she would try anything once.

Roz handed her a blaster. "Ever use one of these before?"

"Uh, no?" Anna looked it over. It sort of, kind of looked like a short rifle. She assumed that she would point it at whatever she wanted to shoot, then pull the trigger. "How does it work?"

"Okay. See this switch on the side? See how it is pointing to that green marking? Green means 'safe.' If the switch is in that position, it won't fire. You need to push the switch to the red marking. Once you do that, DO NOT POINT IT AT ANYTHING YOU DON'T WANT TO KILL!"

Anna nodded. "Then what?"

"Then, pull the trigger. It will fire a short blast of plasma that will fry whatever it's pointed at. If you want continuous fire, hold the trigger down. After one second, it will fire continuously. Of course, you'll deplete the power pack pretty quickly, so only do that for short bursts."

"OK, got it."

"Here's your helmet." Roz put one on Anna's head. She flipped down the face-mask, which completely obscured Anna's sight.

"Hey, I can't see anything."

Roz flipped the switch on the back of the helmet. "Now you can."

"Whoa!" Anna was so startled she dropped the blaster and fell backwards. Roz had anticipated this reaction and caught her, which kept her from falling on her butt.

"What do you see?" Roz asked her.

"A lot of blowing snow and one of those guys who shot me, just standing there."

"Okay. I haven't started the sim yet, so here." Roz picked up Anna's blaster and handed it to her, flipping off the safety as she did so. "It's hot, so point it at that trooper and pull the trigger."

Anna did so, and saw a bolt of plasma take down the virtual storm-trooper. "Wow."

"Okay. Get how this is going to work?" Anna nodded. "Now I'm going to start the sim. More storm-troopers are going to appear. Shoot them. They can show up behind you, so don't focus too hard on the front direction. If they kill you, your vision will go all red and the scene will freeze. I'll see an indicator light on your helmet when that happens. We'll discuss it, then restart. Ready?"

"I was born ready!" Anna bounced on her feet and readied the blaster, swinging it to cover about a 90 degree angle.

"Okay, eager beaver. Try not to die too often. The more you kill, the more the sim will feed you. One, two, three!" And Roz hit the start button on the wall console.

Anna proceeded to kill storm-troopers with abandon. Amazingly, she was pretty good at this. Roz was mildly impressed. After an hour so of this practice, Anna waved her hand at Roz, who switched the helmet off and helped Anna take it off.

"Well?" Roz asked her.

"OK, that's interesting, but now I'm bored with it," Anna replied. "Can we try something more … challenging?"

Roz had to chuckle. "Okay, newb. We can switch it to co-op mode. I'll put a helmet on, and we'll both be playing the same scenario. We have to work together to win the level, so it will be good practice for you. I'm warning you, if you kill me instead of the Impies, I'll have you scrubbing floors until we leave this ice ball."

As good as her word, Roz put Anna's helmet back on, donned one herself, grabbed a blaster and said, "Ready? We won't know where they're coming from or where they're hiding. I'll take point, you are responsible for covering our back. So watch behind us. On three..."

This kept Anna engaged for another couple of hours, by which time it was lunch. Roz blew away two storm-troopers in an offhand way, pulled off her helmet and hit the 'off' switch on the console. Anna staggered a little as her helmet went dark. She pulled off her own helmet and exclaimed, "Wow! That was … something. I would say 'fun' if those guys weren't so evil."

Roz took her helmet and blaster, racked them properly and replied, "Yeah. They'd actually have to get a lot nicer to be called evil. You did okay in the sim, freckles. We can do some more after lunch if you like. I'll get a couple more guys from my squad to join us, and we'll run some scenarios that will probably be part of the generator raid. The more drill you get, the more likely you'll live long enough to die a horrible death."

Anna shrugged, "Did that already. Dying ... I got that down pat; done it twice ... well, once and a half, the second time I don't think I was really dead yet. Not fun, but … looks like a blaster to the head is a lot quicker than freezing to death."

Roz thought she was kidding. "You heard what the Major said. 'S unlikely any of us will live long enough to freeze to death."

They were walking down the hall towards the dining area. Anna asked, "Yeah, what was that all about? Elsa said she'd update me later, but never did."

Roz explained the spot the little Rebel band was in, then finished with, "Here's the thing, newb. The torture bots can keep you alive and writhing in pain for a long time while the Impies dig what they want out of your brain. Trust me, if you think you're going to be captured, blow your own head off and save yourself that."

If the older woman had expected this exchange to scare or intimidate Anna, she was sorely disappointed. Anna simply shrugged again and said, "If that's what it takes, we'll do it."

Roz said, "and that doesn't bother you?"

"Hell yeah, it bothers me. Its scares the fucking shit out of me, but you do what you have to do."

This response got a chuckle out of Roz. "You've got a lot more spirit than that prissy sister of yours. She looks like she's going to burst into tears any minute."

Anna suddenly grabbed Roz by the arm and spun her so that they were face to face. Well, since the older woman had about 6 inches and 75 pounds on Anna, face to collarbone.

"What the hell!" Roz swore and tried to pull her arm out of Anna's grasp. She was looking at an angry girl with an expression of fierce determination on her face. "Whoa, what?"

"My sister is not prissy, and she won't burst into tears! She's the Queen of Arendelle, and she has more courage than the rest of you combined! I died for a few minutes, she lived in pain for thirteen fucking years to protect me and her kingdom! You ever say anything like that about her again, and I'll kick your ass, you dumb bitch!"

Anna threw Roz's arm away from her and stalked down the corridor, still fuming.

Roz stood stunned speechless for a moment, then took off after Anna. She caught up and grabbed her arm, which almost got her a punch in the face. Roz was bigger and stronger, though, and was able to grab Anna's fist before it could connect. "Whoa, hold on freckles! Calm down a minute!"

Anna struggled to free herself and take another swing at Roz, but the woman was too skilled and kept Anna from wrenching free of her grasp. "Calm down, I said, I don't want to hurt you!"

Anna finally stopped struggling, and said, "OK, I won't kick your ass!" She stood in the corridor, still breathing hard with her arms crossed and her face scrunched up into a glare that would have frozen Roz solid if Anna had her sister's ice powers.

Roz looked closely at her to make sure it wasn't a ruse to get past her guard, then said, "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. You two guys show up out of nowhere with a cockamamie story. How was I supposed to know? Every one of us is wondering what the hell Derlin is thinking putting together a plan that depends on a chick who wears a glittery dress and looks like a stiff breeze would blow her over! I don't mind dying, as long as I know it's gonna mean something."

Anna had to admit there was some merit to this. "Okay, I get that. But you don't have to worry about Elsa. She's the bad-assed Queen of Arendelle, and I'm her feisty little sister, and nobody gets between us or says shit about us without an ass-kicking, clear?"

"Yeah, clear." Roz was making placating motions with her hands. "You're even more feisty than I thought. I'm sorry I insulted your sister, really I am." She looked at the angry redhead warily. "We okay now?"

"Yeah," was the somewhat grudging reply. Anna turned and stalked away, followed by Roz.

"You know what, freckles? You can be in my squad forever if you want. You're pretty bad-ass yourself."

Anna mulled this compliment over as they got in line to get their meal packs. She spotted Elsa sitting with the Major and went over to join them. "Hi!" She didn't see any need to share her fight with Roz.

Elsa and the Major greeted her and her sister asked, "How did your training go?"

"It was great! Roz says I'm a natural with a blaster! I only got killed 5 times!" Anna's enthusiasm returned and overcame the grim necessity for the training. Elsa winced at the word 'killed'. She wanted this whole effort to end with Anna not getting killed and the two of them back in Arendelle.

Her meal pack popped open and Anna dug in with her spork. Talking around a mouthful of mystery meat, she asked, "So what did you guys come up with? Anything good?"

Derlin answered, "We think so. I'm going to review it with my key subordinates and the captain of the transport this afternoon. We'll try to close any holes in the plan, then set a time. Probably dawn the day after tomorrow. That means Elsa will have to start up the big storm tomorrow after dinner."

Elsa's face was drawn and grim. She'd do what she had to do.


	6. And The Taun-Taun You Rode In On

The two sisters went to their room after dinner that night. Anna flopped on the bed and was starting to doze while Elsa paced in the tiny open space of the cubicle. The nervous energy she was radiating finally got to Anna, who pushed herself up on one elbow and groused, "Elsa, can't you relax? You're making **me** nervous!"

Elsa shot a look of frustration at the younger woman. "Anna. This is serious. We're in a place and a time that is so far from Arendelle that there's no way to measure it; we're stuck in a situation where there's going to be a battle we're almost certain to lose, and even if we win, we have no way of knowing whether we'll be getting back to Arendelle or be trapped here forever. So, no, relaxing isn't an option."

Anna sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed and pouted at her sister. "Elsa, let me point out that YOU are the critical piece of this whole fucking mess." She ignored the disapproving look Elsa sent her way for the language. "Getting all wound up and burning up energy is a really bad idea. Tomorrow night, you're going to need every bit of energy you have, or we WILL all die. So, relax, please? Come to bed, and let's just think happy thoughts until we have to do this."

Elsa's shoulders slumped, and she nodded. Anna had a point. She kicked off her boots and crawled under the blankets with Anna. She was so tense Anna could feel the tautness of her muscles as she embraced Elsa. She tried to tickle some of it out of the older woman, but it wasn't working.

"Elsa, come on. We've been through stuff more dire than this. We'll come through this, too." She kept rubbing Elsa's shoulders and back, trying to sooth her. Finally, Elsa sighed and relaxed, then wrapped her arms around Anna.

"I'm sorry. The whole thing is so overwhelming. How can you just shrug it off?"

"Easy. I'm just pretending we're stuck in a fairy tale, and we'll eventually wake up. You have to admit, if you look at it that way, it's kinda exciting!"

"But if we don't wake up, if we die instead ..."

"Hey, been there, done that." Anna felt Elsa's flinch. "Shush! Stop beating yourself up over that, it's over, long over. Just pretend, okay? We're in someone else's story, just along for the ride." She kissed Elsa tenderly. "We're together; we'll do this together. Live or die, we'll do it together. And we'll win, and that Obi-Wan guy will figure out a way to get us back to Arendelle. Now, sleep. We need you to be strong tomorrow."

Elsa nodded against Anna's shoulder as she hugged her sister. "Okay. Together."

They finally fell into a comfortable sleep, Elsa drawing comfort from Anna as she had so many times before.

* * *

><p>The next day, Anna spent more time with Roz and some of the other troopers doing more VR training. Elsa spent it with Derlin, and the others he was using as a staff, to put together the final plans for the assault on the shield generator.<p>

It was just before dinner when they finished. Derlin looked around the room and recapped the discussion. "Okay, we start loading the transport around midnight. It should be loaded and ready to go by 0300. Elsa, you need to start building up the storm about an hour before we start loading. Build it up gradually so it's at it's worst by dawn, which is 0500. We'll start moving out around 0700. They would expect an attack to come right at dawn, so we'll fool them. Two hours should be enough for them to relax again. The attack squad and the sappers should be in position by 0800. Everyone got that so far?" Everyone nodded and he continued.

"Then, the squad with Elsa will attack the Imperial transport. Let her do as much damage as she can with her ice before we start blasting the shit out of them. The plasma fire will tip them off. Ice and snow will just confuse them."

He went on, "The sappers will set the charges and scamper back immediately. We'll hear their signal of 'wampa' when they leave. Fifteen minutes later, the shield generator goes up in flames when the charges fire, so as soon as you hear 'wampa', shoot anything you can see and get the fuck back here as fast as you can. We won't be trying to hide at that point, so speed is critical to get outside the blast radius when the generator blows up. Any questions so far?"

There were none. "We haul ass back to the base, board the transport, and get the fuck off this ice ball. Assuming the sappers did their business and the shield is down." His expression suddenly turned grim. "Just so you all know, the Empire won't be taking any of us prisoners. If we can't get through the shield, Captain Zzhoren will use the dead man self-destruct to give us all a clean death." No one objected, and there was more than one nod of agreement at this statement. Elsa felt a shiver go down her back.

"That's it. Every knows what you have to do, go do it." Derlin dismissed them. When he and Elsa were alone in the room, he looked at her with concern. "Elsa, are you alright? I know this is hard for a civilian..."

She gathered her courage and looked at him fiercely. "I am not a civilian, Major. I am a Queen, and I have seen and done things that may not be as amazing as the things here, but I assure you that I understand duty, and I will do mine!"

Derlin hadn't expected that reaction from her, but he was glad to see it.

"You're the linchpin of this whole operation. I'll assign Roz and her squad to guard you. Later tonight, when you start up the storm, we'll make sure that you have enough food and caf to keep you going. And stim."

"What's stim?" Elsa asked him.

"It's a drug that boosts your metabolism. It burns up your body doing it, though. So don't start using it until you have to. It comes in small bottles, I'll give you about 5 of them. And one of stim-plus. THAT one you don't want to use except at extreme need. For about an hour, you'll have the strength of ten men. Then you crash like a droid with a dead power pack, and we'll have to carry you."

Elsa nodded.

Derlin went on, "So, let's get dinner, I'd eat two meal packs if I were you. Then go to your room and try to get some sleep before you have to start up the storm."

They left for the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>Anna was already there, sitting with Roz and a couple of other troopers. Elsa could tell her sister was excited. She needed to remind Major Derlin that Anna was to go onto the transport, and not be put at risk in the attack.<p>

Anna bounced up from her table when she saw Elsa. She said, "See you later!" to Roz and came over to sit with Elsa and the Major.

Elsa started eating one of the two meal packs she had taken. "Did you get more training today?" she asked.

"Yeah, Roz is satisfied I'm good enough to stay with her squad tomorrow. We'll be protecting you, so it's all good."

Elsa chose not to have a painful conversation with Anna in public. They would discuss Anna's role in the privacy of their cubicle.

She finished eating the second meal pack, then said, "Anna, I need to try to sleep as much as I can before I begin raising the storm. You don't need to come along, but try to come in quietly if I'm asleep, okay?"

Anna replied, "If you think I'm going to let you try to sleep as wound up as you are, guess again. I'll come and help you get to sleep, Elsa."

They returned to the cubicle. Elsa decided to have it out with her sister before she tried to sleep.

"Anna, I don't want you on the attack with us tomorrow. I need to know you're safe. You need to be on the transport while we take out the shield ..."

Anna stopped her right there. She had had years of over-protective Elsa, and she had vowed to never let it happen again. "Fuck you and the taun-taun you rode in on, sis! If you think I'm going to be on that transport while you go out and take on the fucking Empire all by yourself, you are sadly deluded!"

She crossed her arms and glared at Elsa. "Elsa, I am going to be right at your side, helping Roz and her squad keep any fucking storm-troopers off your back. What part of 'together' isn't clear to you? How DARE you try to protect me again? I'm not a child, and I'm not going to let you go into this alone. If we die, we die TOGETHER!"

Elsa sat on the bunk and put her face in her hands. "Anna, I love you. Is it wrong that I want to keep you safe?"

Anna sat next to her and put her arm around her sister's shoulder. Now, her voice was tender, not angry as she kissed Elsa gently. "No, it's not wrong. It's what big sisters do, and I love you for it. But little sisters will fight to protect their big sisters, too, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm your strong left hand, remember?" She shook Elsa a little. "Now, lay down, and go to sleep. I'm going to be right here with you, until the end, whatever end this story has."

They got under the covers, and Elsa laid her head so she could hear Anna's heartbeat. Anna was right; they would do this together, the Two Terrible Sisters of Arendelle. She sighed and fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>Some time later, the women were awakened by a knock on the door. It was Major Derlin, come to get Elsa to start the storm.<p>

"Elsa? It's time." He came in after he had gotten a sleepy, "Come on in, we're awake..."

Elsa was sitting on the side of the bunk, rubbing sleep out of her eyes; Anna was of course burrowed under the pillows muttering "Go 'way, it's not morning," or something similar.

The Queen arose and yawned, "So, how do you want to do this?"

Derlin chuckled as Anna pulled more blankets over her head and burrowed deeper and suggested, "Well, if you need to use the 'fresher, do that. Then let's get you a couple of meal packs and some caf, then go to the med bay."

She simply nodded as she pulled on her boots. "Why the med bay?"

"We have a comfortable chair in the med bay, and we can monitor your vital signs as you work. If we see too many fatigue poisons building up, we can give you an intravenous boost that won't hurt you as much as the stim."

They left the cubicle and went to the 'fresher. After three days here, Elsa was no longer shocked when he followed her in and did his business while she used a booth and then washed up. They went to the cafeteria, where she ate two more meal packs and a couple of mugs of caf, then headed for the med bay.

The only occupant of the med bay was Fixit. 2-1B was nowhere to be seen, and the bacta tank was gone as well. It looked as though almost everything that could be moved had been taken to be loaded on the transport ship. Fixit was standing next to a chair with arm and leg rests, holding some wires. There was one piece of equipment next to the chair, with bright lines and numbers in a language Elsa didn't recognize on a flat piece of glass.

"Have a seat, Elsa. Fixit is going to hook you up to the monitors and put in an IV so we can keep you healthy until it's time to leave."

He helped Elsa sit, then adjusted the chair so she was almost lying down. She had to admit it was comfortable.

"What's … what's he going to do to me?" Elsa tried to keep the quaver out of her voice. She would not show fear in front of Derlin, but she had to use all her concealing skills to keep her external demeanor calm.

Fixit replied, "I need you to roll up your sleeves, and unbutton your jacket, miss. I will attach these leads and they will monitor your bodily functions. I need to insert a small needle into your arm so that if necessary I can inject you with a nutrient solution to offset any fatigue toxins." Elsa managed to suppress a gulp, and began to roll up her jacket sleeves as the droid had asked.

When the IV was in and the leads attached, Derlin leaned over Elsa and asked, "Is there anything you need before we start?"

"Just, bring my sister here after she wakes up and eats. It will help me if she's here until we have to get together with the other troops for the final assault."

Derlin nodded and said, "I'll go find her and send her here. She's probably eating by now." He took one last look at her vital signs, leaned over and whispered, "Thank you for this. May the Force be with you." Then he left.

Elsa took a deep breath to center herself, then began to work her magic. Outside, the wind picked up and snow and sleet began to fall and swirl. She visualized the location of the shield generator, and worked to make the storm big enough to cover all of the territory between Echo Base and the Imperials. Fixit kept a close eye on the monitor. There was no sound but the beeping of the machine monitoring Elsa, and her slow, deep breaths.

* * *

><p>Anna was indeed to be found in the cafeteria, making a desultory attempt to eat. The import of the moment was beginning to hit her, and it took away her appetite. Roz, who was sitting across from her, noticed her mood and asked softly, "Pre-battle jitters, freckles?"<p>

Anna jerked out of her reverie, looked at her and said, "Yeah, I guess. I've been able to keep pretending this was just a story, but it's not a story. And I'm worried about Elsa."

Roz knew all about pre-battle jitters. "You know it happens to all of us, right? You know what real courage is? Doing what you gotta do even though you're afraid."

The redhead chuckled. "Yeah, actually, I do know that. This isn't my first time in danger. I wasn't kidding about the one and a half deaths. I'm really more worried about my sister. She's strong, but this is bigger than what she's had to do in the past."

"We'll take care of her, freckles. Don't worry. You got the best damn squad of SMuRFs in the entire fucking Alliance covering her back."

"What's a smurf?" Anna was curious.

"'Space Marines of the Rebel Forces'." Roz chuckled. "Don't EVER call us soldiers! Urra!"

"Ohhhkay. Smurfs it is." Anna finished her meal pack and caf and was getting ready to leave when Derlin came up to her and told her where Elsa was. She hurried to the med bay.

* * *

><p>Malcor Disra, Captain of the Imperial Army, was shaken awake by his aide. "Sir, you're wanted on the bridge."<p>

Shaking off his sleep, Disra went to the command center of the transport ship that was parked near the shield generator that plugged the escape route of any rebel scum still left on this frozen hell.

When he got there, he sat in front of a com-console that was blinking red and placed his hand on a pad. As soon as he sat and his hand-print confirmed his identity, the screen cleared and showed the commanding officer of the Star Destroyer in orbit over Hoth.

"Disra, what's going on down there? Our sensors show a huge storm seems to have come up out of nowhere." asked Vilim Karath, Captain of the Imperial Star Destroyer _Emperor's Fist._

"Captain Karath, this hellhole of ice can spawn a storm in the space of ten minutes. Storms are not remarkable; it was remarkable that we had a few days with no storms," was Disra's disgruntled response.

He stifled a yawn. Karath was a stickler for protocol. Of course, it's easier to be a stickler when you had a nice warm Star Destroyer to sleep in, and nice hot food at every meal. Disra and his troopers were stuck in this miserable weather, freezing their asses off and living off meal packs. All because some idiot intelligence officer thought that there MIGHT be some rebels left behind after their fleet escaped through the Imperial blockade. Disra wondered what Karath had done to piss off Lord Vader enough to get left behind on this Sith-forsaken ice cube.

"What if this is a precursor of a rebel attack? Are you prepared for such an attack?" Karath insisted.

"Yes, sir, we are prepared. Against a hypothetical attack by hypothetical rebels because I for one am unconvinced that there are any left down here. And if they are, the shield generator will keep them from leaving."

"Captain, if your negligence allows anything to happen to that shield generator, I will not protect you from Lord Vader's wrath! Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir, icy clear. Disra, out." And he slapped the disconnect button on the com-console.

Bah. He turned to his aide, who had heard the entire exchange. "Stettin, tell the sergeant that we need to ensure the patrols are vigilant. If there are any rebels on this ice-ball, they may try to attack under the cover of this storm."

"Yes, sir. You know it's going to be a problem keeping the men out there for longer than an hour or two at a time. The temp is dropping, and that wind is howling, making it feel even colder."

"I know, I know. Rotate the men every hour. I know our sensors suck in this kind of weather, but keep a full watch on in any case. I'm going back to bed. Wake me 30 minutes before dawn, that's the most likely time for them to try something."

"Yes, sir."

Disra went back his quarters, hoping to get a few hours more sleep.

* * *

><p>Anna walked quietly into the med bay. Elsa lay on the chair with her eyes closed, Fixit watching her and the monitors.<p>

"Elsa, are you asleep?" Anna asked softly. If she was asleep, she didn't want to wake her.

"No, honey. Just concentrating. I'm glad you're here. Pull up a chair and hold my hand. I'll feel better and will be able to focus better."

Anna did so. She stroked Elsa's hand gently to soothe her.

They sat that way for several hours, interrupted only by Fixit reacting to a blinking red light on the pane of glass. He floated over to Elsa and told her, "I am going to inject some nutrient fluid into your arm. You may feel a slight tingle, it is nothing to worry about."

There was a soft pumping sound, and the red light on the glass changed back to green.

About an hour later, Derlin came in and said, "It's time to form up and go out there. Are you ready?"

Elsa nodded and Fixit began to unhook her from the monitor leads and IV line. Anna helped her stand and refasten her clothing. Derlin was carrying a helmet, goggles, scarf and gloves. He held them out to Elsa, "Here, you'll need these outside, so bundle up."

She took them, all except the gloves. "Don't need those, and they will lessen the effectiveness of my ice power if I need to spike someone or create an ice barrier." She handed the gloves back to him.

Derlin shrugged, then said, "And here is the stim." He handed her five small yellow bottles, and one red one. "The red one is the stim plus. Like I said before, use that one only in an extreme moment. It's good for about an hour, but then you'll drop unconscious and won't wake up for hours."

Anna spoke up, "Can I have one or two of the yellow ones? Just in case..." He handed her a couple and she put them in her jacket pocket.

The three of them left the med bay and walked to the hanger, Elsa and Anna hand in hand.


	7. Heart of a Jedi

When they got to the hanger, they saw that it was mostly empty. The transport ship _Duty Free_ was almost completely loaded with all of the rebels left on Hoth. Its name told anyone who understood gray market commerce that it had seen service as a blockade runner. Derlin hoped its luck would hold out for one more run through Imperial lines.

The only activity in the hanger were some cargo loader droids finishing up and about 25 Rebel SmuRFs standing around at the foot of a loading ramp for the ship. When Derlin and the two women walked up, the two sergeants, Roz and Meera, bellowed, "Squad, stand to and attention to orders!" The troops split into two groups; the larger, led by Roz, would protect Elsa and attack the Empire transport and storm-troopers. Meera's group was responsible for planting the explosive charges to destroy the shield generator.

Since the Rebels weren't much on rank protocol, nobody bothered saluting Major Derlin. He walked up to Roz and Meera and asked, "Everybody know what to do?" He got two nods in return. "Okay, get these two their combat harnesses, and let's load up the two float tractors. I'll make the last check with the captain of the transport. Be ready to move out in ten minutes." He walked up the ramp into the ship.

Meera loaded up his squad on a float tractor. Roz came over with another trooper to Elsa and Anna. She handed Elsa a combat harness. The other trooper handed Anna one, and was holding an extra blaster, clearly for Anna's use.

"What are these for?" Elsa asked.

"We use them to hang grenades, ammo, and supplies that we need to carry. You guys need them because if you get wounded, we also use them to grab on and drag you back to the transports."

When both the women had buckled the harnesses on, and Anna had her blaster, Roz handed both of them something that looked like a wristwatch. "Here's your com units. The earphones are in your helmets. You push this button here to talk. Pay attention to anything you hear." Elsa and Anna just stood there holding the com units, until Roz shook her head, muttered, "Sheesh" and showed them how to buckle them on their wrists.

She then held her own near her mouth and screamed, "COM CHECK!"

Elsa and Anna heard a tinny voice repeat that in their ears. They then heard, "COM GOOD!" as all the troops responded. Elsa wondered how Roz would know if someone's com WASN'T good, since they wouldn't hear her call out. But that was not her problem. She concentrated on keeping the storm going and patted her pocket to make sure the stims were still there. She could already tell she would need them.

Roz stood in front of the troops still standing and screamed again, "ATTITUDE CHECK!"

The troops responded, "This place fucking SUCKS!"

"Now give me a positive attitude check!"

"This place positively fucking SUCKS!"

"Now a negative attitude check!"

"No place will ever suck as much as this place fucking SUCKS!"

"Last, give me a comprehensive attitude check!"

"We can't believe how much this place fucking SUCKS!"

Anna had to giggle. Elsa was too focused on keeping the storm going to follow this litany. Her eyes were closed and her face was in a tight frown.

Roz turned to them and ordered, "Okay, ladies. Let's get this show on the road." The last of them boarded the float transports.

Derlin ran down the ramp from the ship and hopped in the one with Meera's squad. He trusted Roz to protect Elsa and keep the Impies busy while they sabotaged the shield generator. He made a whirling motion with his raised hand, then pointed at the hanger door, which was open just wide enough for their floaters. The doors wouldn't open fully until the 'wampa' signal had been given.

The two floaters headed out into the storm. Elsa created a little calm area for them to travel in and focused on making it storm even more intensely around the shield generator. She reached into her pocket for a stim. She would use it as soon as they arrived and she would need to attack the Imperial troops and ship. Anna checked her blaster for the hundredth time and then put her arm around Elsa's shoulders.

* * *

><p>"This storm has completely fucked up our sensors, sir," an Imperial storm-trooper reported to Captain Disra.<p>

Disra didn't need a report to know that. All he had to do was look at the blank screens in the command center, then see the same blank whiteness out the windows. It was almost three hours past dawn, and there had been no attack. Karath called him every 15 minutes looked for updates, accomplishing nothing but grinding Disra's nerves to a fine frazzle.

"Time to swap the guards again. The temp's dropped another ten degrees in the last hour. The men can't take much more of this, sir."

"Do it," Disra ordered. He grabbed his own helmet and walked off the bridge. He needed to show his men that he could share in their discomfort. "If Karath calls again, tell him I am making a personal inspection of the shield generator."

He would freeze his ass off, but at least he wouldn't need to listen to more bullshit from the Star Destroyer captain. It was a trade-off worth making as far as Disra was concerned.

He walked down the ramp into the blowing, swirling snow. The wind was so strong it almost blew him off the ramp. He grabbed onto the ramp's handrail and tried to orient himself to walk toward the shield generator. Two troopers came down the ramp behind him and had the same problem staying upright. The three of them started walking toward the generator, leaning into the howling wind while the guards coming off duty staggered up the ramp into the ship.

"Have you seen any sign of rebel scum?" Disra had to shout into the ear of the storm-trooper sheltering out of the wind behind the looming bulk of the generator. There really wasn't any shelter. The wind kept changing direction so that no spot was really out of the snow and sleet. The trooper had a coating of ice on his armor, and he kept trying to knock it off without much success.

"No, sir," he screamed back. "Sir, there's no way anyone could be out in this storm. We need to get the men back inside the ship or we'll lose them. Even an hour is too long."

Disra thought about this for a moment, then shouted, "You're right, get them all back inside. Now."

The Imperials had withdrawn from the shield generator and almost all of them had managed to drag themselves up the ramp without being blown off by the wind when a much stronger blast of wind and ice covered them, the ramp, and that side of the ship in a foot-thick coating of ice.

Disra, who had been the last man going inside, found himself unable to move. He was encased in ice up to his waist. He couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried. His arms were still free, so he brought his blaster around and tried to blow the ice away. Shooting carefully, he was able to get enough of it off to fall back onto the ramp.

"Disra, what's going on down there?" He heard Karath's voice in his earphones. Just what he needed.

"The storm has picked up; we can't move, we can hardly breathe it's so cold and so icy. The ice is building up a coating on the ship and anyone stupid enough to try to stay out here."

"Disra, our sensors show an anomaly almost on top of your ship. Are you sure this isn't a rebel attack?" Karath asked.

"How can it be? If we can't be out here, how could there be rebels ..." Disra was responding when he heard the word 'wampa!' in his earphones. "Who called out a wampa?" he demanded. One of those beasts could kill anyone with a single blow of its claws, and this storm was its natural hunting ground. If someone had spotted one trying to attack them, they were in real trouble.

"Who called out 'wampa'?" he demanded again. Damn it. "All troops, get out here NOW. If there's a wampa on the prowl, we need to make sure it can't get into the ship!"

Four or five storm-troopers managed to force their way down the ramp, mainly by shooting through the icy barrier that had built up. They still couldn't see anything more than a few feet away. The storm seemed to abate a tiny bit, and Disra signaled the troopers to follow him toward the prow of the ship. He ordered two of them to guard the ramp while the rest of them went looking for anything out of line.

* * *

><p>Elsa pulled the top off her third bottle of stim and swallowed the contents in one gulp. Keeping this storm going and covering the Imperial ship in ice and snow was taking more out of her than she had anticipated. She was standing about 50 yards from the Imperial ship, even though they couldn't see it. Roz had estimated the distance when they had crept up from where they had parked the float tractor.<p>

Elsa concentrated again, building up a bit more wind when she heard 'wampa' in her earphones. That was the signal to get the hell out of here and back to Echo base. Roz immediately screamed, "That's it, Smurfs. Everyone back to the base! Now, now, now!" The rebels surrounding Elsa started moving back toward the tractor. They only had 15 minutes to get as far away as possible or go up in pieces when the shield generator was destroyed.

Roz was holding onto Elsa's harness to pull her along. Elsa was too busy keeping the storm going to be able to pay much attention to her own movements. Anna was staying as close to Elsa as she could, blaster at the ready, trying to see anything or anyone that might attack them out of the swirling snow.

Suddenly, Roz pushed Elsa to the ground, screamed, "Storm-trooper!" and fired her blaster at the same time the Imperial fired his. They both fell to the ground, wounded.

Anna had flung herself on top of her sister with Roz's warning, and began firing her own blaster in the direction where the storm-trooper had appeared. There were plasma bolts coming back, then the whole rebel squad opened fire en masse at the threat.

Elsa was dazed from the fall. She could feel the energy draining from her. It was time to use the stim-plus. She reached into her pocket to find the red bottle, uncapped it and drank it to the dregs. The effect was almost instantaneous. She felt like she could run all the way to the North Mountain and back, carrying Sven and Kristoff in her hands. She pushed Anna off of her, got to her feet, and shouted, "Let's get out of here!" while helping Anna stand up.

"We need to grab Roz!" Anna yelled. They both took hold of the unconscious woman's harness and started dragging her toward the float tractor while the rest of the squad continued to fire at the Imperials as they boarded the tractor.

"Everyone aboard? Count off!" one of the corporals screamed. When he was sure everyone was aboard, he slapped the driver and ordered, "Get us the fuck back to base, NOW!"

The float tractor's motivators whined as the driver pushed them past their safety limits. About ten minutes later, as they arrived back at Echo base, they heard a muffled "boom" and saw a dim flash in the distance through the swirling snow. With luck, that would be the shield generator.

They drove into the hanger through the now wide-open doors. They could see that the sapper squad had already gotten here and boarded the transport. Derlin was standing at the bottom of the ramp screaming, "Come on, come on, come on! The Impies will be here as soon as they figure out what happened!"

The driver pulled the tractor as close to the ramp as he could and the troops jumped out and started running up the ramp. Two of them were carrying Roz's limp body.

Derlin grabbed Elsa by the hand, and urged her onto the ramp. "Come on, it's time to get out of here. You did it!"

Elsa was beginning to get light headed and felt faint. She was afraid the stim was wearing off quicker than Derlin had said it would. Considering all the energy she was expending keeping the storm going, it wasn't hard to understand why.

She and Anna started to follow Derlin onto the transport when Elsa heard a voice saying,_ "No, Elsa, stay here. I can't open a portal on a moving ship!" _She thought it sounded like Kenobi but she couldn't be sure. She stopped dead, Anna ran into her and almost knocked her over.

Derlin looked back and screamed, "What are you waiting for?"

She turned away and ran back down the ramp, pulling Anna along with her. "You go, Major. We have to stay if we have any hope of returning to our home!"

The Major was torn. "The Impies are coming. If they capture you, they'll …"

She waved him off. "I know. They won't capture us. Go! Or this has all been for nothing!" She continued pulling Anna away from the ship.

Derlin saluted her, then ran up the ramp, which was already closing as the transport ship rose a few feet in the air and started moving toward the open hanger doors. Elsa and Anna heard a loud 'whoosh' once the ship was clear of the doors, then there was no sound but the storm still swirling outside.

Elsa collapsed against the wall, breathing hard. Anna dropped to her knees next to her, concern written large on her face. "Elsa, are you okay?"

"Not really. I took that stim plus, and I can feel it wearing off. The storm will diminish quickly if I can't keep feeding it. I heard Kenobi tell us to stay here. But if the storm-troopers find us before he opens that portal thing, we can't be captured, Anna. It's up to you. I have nothing left." Elsa kept trying to pull in as much air as she could in great gulping gasps.

Anna stayed next to her sister and checked to be sure her blaster was ready to fire. If she had to, she would make sure that neither she nor Elsa was captured and turned over to the torture bots. _"Oh, Kristoff. If we don't make it back, I hope you find someone to love."_

The minutes ticked by. Anna could tell the storm was losing power quickly. She glanced down at Elsa. Her sister was clearly losing consciousness. Elsa reached out for Anna's hand. "Anna, if we don't make it … I'm sorry I got us into this. I love you." And she blacked out.

It was like that day on the fjord. The storm stopped dead, snowflakes suspended in mid-air, moving oh so slowly. Anna gently laid Elsa flat on the ground, hoping she would regain consciousness at least. Once she had her settled, she picked up her blaster again and turned to watch the hanger doors. They were against the hanger wall, behind some scattered crates, so it wouldn't be immediately obvious to anyone that the two women were there.

Anna was just beginning to wonder if she should try to move Elsa further inside the base when two things happened simultaneously: Anna saw movement at the hanger doors, and the swirling light that she had seen an eternity ago at the Ice Palace formed over their heads. It was going to be a close-run thing. Anna readied her blaster. _"We'll be okay, Elsa. One way or another. The Two Terrible Sisters of Arendelle, together."_

* * *

><p>Captain Malcor Disra was leading the remnants of the storm-troopers left after the rebel attack. They had been able to follow the traces of the float tractors because the storm had diminished enough for the sensors on the Star Destroyer to give them direction. Captain Karath had been almost incoherent in his rage when Disra reported they were under blaster fire.<p>

The squad of storm-troopers was cautious entering the hanger. Disra cursed when he saw it was empty. If there had been a rebel transport here, it had been able to leave since the shield generator had been destroyed by sabotage. _ "Vader will have my head on a spike when we rejoin the fleet."_ Disra was in despair.

"Sir, what's that light over there?" One of his storm-troopers was pointing toward the far wall of the hanger. There did seem to be something floating in the air, a light of some sort.

"Check it out, but carefully. It might be a booby trap, something to draw us in close enough for the rebel scum to finish us off," Disra ordered. The squad began to move slowly toward the anomaly.

* * *

><p>"<em>Come on, Kenobi, we haven't got all day."<em> Anna muttered to herself as she crouched behind the crates. That damn portal was growing too slowly for her liking. She remembered what he had said, _"Your magic is similar enough to The Force that I can tap into it. That's how I was able to transport you here to Hoth with the Force Portal."_ She wondered if the problem was that Elsa was unconscious. Would more stim give her enough energy to form the Portal? She dig around in her pocket and pulled out a yellow bottle.

"_If I give her this, I might kill her."_ Anna dithered. _"If I don't, we'll both die."_

Anna leaned over, kissed Elsa, muttered, "I'm so sorry, Elsa," and held the bottle to her sister's lips. Dropping the empty bottle, she wrapped her arms around Elsa, closed her eyes and prayed that she had made the right choice.

* * *

><p>As Disra and his troops approached the whirlpool, it suddenly got bigger and brighter. It swooped behind some crates, then shrank to a point and vanished.<p>

They came up to the crates and saw nothing on the floor except a rebel blaster.

The Imperial Captain shrugged and observed, "Whatever that was, it's gone now. Let's search the rest of this base. It looks empty, but we have to be sure."

The troopers disbursed to begin their search.

Disra contemplated the end to his career while they did. He decided to use his blaster to preempt any punishment Captain Karath might think up. _ "I'll save Vader the trouble of ..." _A light brighter than the sun, then … blackness.


	8. It's Magic!

The Force Portal dumped Anna and Elsa unceremoniously on the floor of the Ice Palace, sending them sprawling. Elsa was still out cold, her body landing awkwardly in a tangle of limbs. The stim had been enough to get the portal open, but not enough to bring Elsa to full consciousness. Anna groaned and sat up holding her head, then remembered where they had been, screamed "Elsa!" and ran over to her sister's seemingly lifeless body. She put her arm under Elsa's shoulders and cradled her, caressing her cheek with her free hand.

"Elsa, Elsa, please wake up!" Anna began to cry. It only took her a few seconds to realize that wasn't going to help her sister. She wiped her face, then lay Elsa down gently and began to check for any signs of life. Anna removed Elsa's helmet, goggles and scarf, then took off her own. It wasn't as cold here as it was on Hoth, she didn't need them.

Putting her face close to Elsa's, she could tell that her sister was breathing rapidly and shallowly. Anna opened Elsa's jacket and put her ear to the unconscious woman's chest to check for a heartbeat. It was fast, very fast. Anna remembered what Kristoff had told her about head injuries, and decided that checking Elsa's eyes made sense. Peeling her eyelids open gently, Anna saw that the pupils were huge, and Elsa's eyes were bloodshot.

Anna wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not; Elsa was alive, but she seemed to be in distress, and certainly showed no signs of waking up. What should she do? She needed to get Elsa back to Arendelle to a doctor. But how?

"Anna? Are you okay?" The voice behind her startled Anna so much she nearly jumped a foot in the air. Olaf!

"Olaf! Am I glad to see you! Give me a hug!" Olaf was always ready for a hug, but he could tell Anna was upset, and then he noticed Elsa's motionless body.

"Anna, what's wrong with Elsa?" he asked worriedly.

"She's sick, little guy. I need you to help me. First, bring me the picnic basket we brought." They had planned to stay over night and had brought food and drink along. "Then, get Marshmallow up here. Can you do that?" Anna's brain was whirling like the damn portal, but a plan was beginning to come into focus.

Olaf ran off to do what she asked. Anna cradled Elsa again, stroking her cheeks and murmuring, "I'll get you home, Elsa, I'll take care of you." Anna was disturbed to see how pale her sister's skin was. Normally, Elsa's freckles were almost invisible; now they stood out stark against her pallid, grayish skin. There were dark circles under her eyes, and the skin was taut against her cheekbones. Elsa looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Anna cursed the stim drugs, even knowing they had been necessary for Elsa to accomplish what needed to be done.

It took Olaf only a few minutes to return with Marshmallow and the picnic basket.

Anna had remembered what Major Derlin explained about the drugs sucking energy out of the user's body. She needed Elsa to drink something, and eat if possible. First, though, she needed to send for help.

"Olaf, I need you to do something important. You need to run back to the castle and tell them that Elsa's hurt. We need a wagon and the doctor as fast as they can get up here. Can you do that for me?"

"You bet, Anna! It won't take me long at all!" He seemed to think for a minute, then asked, "Are you sure you don't want Kristoff?"

"He's down in Arendelle; you can find him after you get the Royal Physician started up here." Anna replied as she dug through the items in the picnic basket.

"No, he's with the trolls. He and Sven decided to come visit them. I think he was gonna surprise you and Elsa later."

Anna was startled. If Kristoff and Sven were with the trolls, they could get here with the wagon much quicker than sending Olaf all the way back to Arendelle.

"Olaf, go get Kristoff and Sven. Tell them Elsa's hurt, and to hurry!" Olaf took off running immediately.

Anna looked up at Marshmallow. "Marshmallow, do you think you can carry Elsa? The faster we can get to Kristoff, the faster we can get back to Arendelle."

"Yes, Lady Anna. I can do that," he rumbled in reply, his deep voice echoing off the icy walls.

"Let me see if I can wake her enough to get her to eat and drink something first."

Anna had pulled out a jug of milk they had brought along. Pouring some into a cup, then more into a bowl, she dipped a chunk of bread in the bowl. "Marshmallow, come here and give me a little bit of your snow, please?"

She took took the snow and gently rubbed it on Elsa's cheeks and forehead, trying to rouse her. It worked, somewhat. Elsa groaned and her eyelids fluttered, but she didn't awaken completely. "An … Anna?" she mumbled.

"I'm here, Elsa. Can you try to drink a little?" She took a moan as a yes and held the cup to Elsa's lips, being careful not to let her choke. Elsa drank most of it, sputtering and coughing at the end.

Putting the cup aside, Anna brought the milk-soaked bread to Elsa's lips and said, "Try to eat this, honey. It's soft; you need to eat something." But Elsa was unresponsive again. Anna gave up trying to get her to eat.

She laid her sister down again, then turned to look at Marshmallow. "We need to get to the trolls. Please carry her and move as fast as you can without leaving me behind." He nodded, then knelt to pick up Elsa, cradling her more gently than Anna would have believed possible for a snowlem so large. They left the Ice Palace, Anna pulling on her gloves and wrapping her scarf around her as they went down the staircase to the mountain.

They had only been walking for about half an hour when they heard hoof-beats approaching. It was Kristoff and Sven. Since it was summer, the wagon was equipped with wheels, not runners. Olaf was riding in the back of the wagon.

Kristoff pulled on the reins and Sven skidded to a stop. Leaping out of the wagon, Kristoff wrapped Anna in a hug and asked, "What happened? What's wrong with Elsa?" He looked up at Marshmallow carrying the Queen.

"I'll explain on the way back to the castle, we need to get her to the doctor, fast!" She hugged Kristoff fiercely and kissed him. "Marshmallow, put her in the back of the wagon, gently please."

The snowlem complied. Kristoff helped Anna climb in with Elsa. She arranged her sister's head in her lap, then looked up at Marshmallow and said, "Thank you Marshmallow! But you better get back up above the snow line before you melt." He didn't have a personal flurry cloud like Olaf, and couldn't travel far from the Ice Palace in the summer.

"Lady Elsa is worth melting for, Lady Anna. Take good care of her!" And he turned to go back up the mountain.

Kristoff had been watching this exchange and noticing the odd clothing that the two women were wearing. "Uh, Anna, why are you dressed like that?"

"I'll explain it all, Kristoff, but you won't believe me. Let's go, Elsa needs a doctor."

Kristoff got in the wagon, picked up the reins and told Sven, "Go, buddy!" Sven brayed his assent and began the trip back to Arendelle.

Anna looked up at Kristoff and asked, "How long were we gone?"

Turning his head, he replied with a puzzled tone in his voice, "Huh? What do you mean? I brought you guys up here yesterday morning, then I decided to visit the family instead of going all the way back to Arendelle. I was supposed to meet up with you tonight to go back down the mountain."

Anna thought this over. She and Elsa were just getting ready to eat lunch on their second day at the Ice Palace when the portal had taken them. She looked up at the sun in the sky and realized it was maybe an hour past noon. Apparently, no time at all had passed here, even though they had been on Hoth for days! She didn't even try to figure out how that could be.

While stroking Elsa's cheek, she noticed the com-link on her own wrist. Elsa was still wearing one, too. Anna decided trying to explain them would be too hard, so she unbuckled both of them and tucked them away in her jacket pocket. She had taken off her helmet, scarf and gloves, it was warm enough without them now. Their clothes were odd, but nothing stood out about the fabric. Anna was good at making up stories, she'd have to think up a really good one on the way to the castle. Along with some explanation of how Elsa had gotten so sick and thin literally overnight. She brushed Elsa's bangs back from her forehead and hoped she woke up soon.

* * *

><p>Sven's sure-footed trot got them back to the castle in an amazingly short time. They pulled up in front of the main doors into the castle, and the two guards stationed there were startled when Anna cried out, "Elsa's hurt! We need to get her inside and get the doctor, quickly!" One of the guards ran inside to get a stretcher and more help, while the other asked Anna, "Your Highness! Are you hurt, too? What happened?"<p>

"I'm fine. I'll explain it all to the doctor. Elsa's just very, very sick." Olaf hopped out of the wagon. Anna stayed holding her sister until more guards came out and they carefully put Elsa on a stretcher to carry her to the doctor.

Anna grabbed one of the guards and ordered, "Please take care of Sven and the wagon, I need Master Kristoff with me!" And she waved at Kristoff to follow her inside with Elsa. He handed the reins to the guard and hurried to catch up.

Inside, they took Elsa to the infirmary, where the doctor was already waiting. He instructed the guards to put her on the bed, where Gerda and another maidservant got her undressed and into a nightgown.

While this was happening, the doctor turned to Anna and asked, "Your Highness? What happened to the Queen? You've been gone only a day, and she looks like she's been sick for a week!"

Anna hesitated for a moment before answering, since she had not been able to come up with anything that sounded at all reasonable on the trip back to Arendelle. She took a deep breath and decided to tell the truth.

"We were transported … somewhere else by a bright whirlpool of light. We were gone for days, even though it seems like no time has passed here. While we were there, we got involved in a battle, and Elsa drank something to give her even more strength for her powers. But the drink basically used all of her body's energy to do it, leaving her sick and weak." There, she had said it. It sounded fantastic and crazy even to her ears, and she had lived through it.

The doctor simply nodded his head and declared, "Ah, yes. Probably a magic potion. You were obviously taken by some sort of magic portal because it sensed Her Majesty's magical powers."

Wait, what? Anna couldn't believe her ears. Just like that, the doctor accepted her wild-ass story and shrugged it off as just magic?

"What can you do to help Elsa?" She decided to focus on more important things, like her sister.

"Well, superficially, it looks like Her Majesty is exhausted, dehydrated, and starving. Unless the magic potion did something else to her that I have no remedy for, we should get her to eat and drink as much as she can, and let her sleep and rest for as long as it takes her to regain her strength."

Anna nodded, wishing that something like bacta existed here in Arendelle. She went over to sit next to Elsa on the bed while the doctor gave orders to Gerda for food and drink to be brought for the Queen.

Returning to Elsa's bedside, the doctor suggested, "I think you should try to rouse her enough to eat and drink something. Your rapport with your sister may touch her mind in a way no one else's could."

Anna leaned over and stroked Elsa's face while saying, "Elsa, if you can hear me, please wake up. I know you're in there, and I know you're hurt and tired, but please wake up. We need you to eat and drink something so you can get well."

Elsa's eyelids fluttered open, and she looked around in confusion. "Ann … Anna? Where am I?" she whispered.

"You're in your own bed, honey. Kristoff and I brought you back down from the Ice Palace. You need to eat and drink as much as you can, then sleep. You're exhausted." Anna looked to where Gerda had brought in a tray with food and tea. "Can you try to sit up? Kristoff and I will help."

A weak nod, and Elsa tried to push herself up but couldn't. Anna and Kristoff together lifted her shoulders and let Gerda prop her up on some pillows. Just that little effort seemed to put Elsa back to sleep, but she responded when Anna held a large mug of tea laced with a lot of honey to her lips. She managed to hold the cup herself and drink all the tea. It seemed to revive her enough that she could keep her eyes open.

Anna and Gerda took turns helping Elsa eat and drink until she finally pushed them away, "Enough. So tired...need to sleep again..." And with that she drifted off and fell deeply asleep. Anna was glad to see that she was breathing normally again, not the quick shallow breaths she had been taking when she was brought here.

Gerda touched Anna's shoulder and said, "Your Highness, you need to go clean up, change, and get some dinner yourself. We'll let her sleep a while, then move her to her own room. I'll watch over her until you come back tonight. I know you'll be sleeping there."

Anna looked at the doctor. He nodded at her unspoken question. "It will be fine if you wish to sleep with her. It will probably comfort her and keep her from having nightmares."

"Thank you, Gerda. I'll do what you said. Come on, Kristoff."

The two of them left and went to Anna's room. Turning to Kristoff, she smirked at him and said, "As much as I'd like you to scrub my back and help me change clothes, I'm thinking we really don't need to scandalize the castle today. How about I meet you in the dining room in an hour for supper? Then we need to talk."

Kristoff hugged her, kissed her tenderly and said, "You got it, Feisty Pants. I can't wait to hear the whole story behind this adventure!"

* * *

><p>For the next few weeks, Elsa spent her time healing. Anna actually did some work, as she was Elsa's Regent in the event of the Queen's inability to rule. It was an arrangement that Elsa had formalized with a decree not long before their adventure.<p>

Anna had a lot less patience with bureaucratic nonsense than Elsa did, so the governance of the kingdom was far more … interesting … for the Royal Council and the rest of the governing apparatus of Arendelle with Anna in charge. She also let slip a few of the more interesting words she had learned on Hoth, which appalled most and amused Admiral Naismith. He was a sailor, after all. These words did not reach Elsa's ears.

At night, Anna slipped into bed with her sister and cuddled her until she slept. An occasional nightmare would wake Elsa in tears, and Anna helped sooth her and get her back to sleep. Between Gerda's mothering and Anna's hugs, Elsa regained her strength rapidly.

Two weeks after their return, Elsa was almost back to normal. She had regained all the weight she had lost, there were no dark circles under her eyes, and she was able to take back the reins of the kingdom from Anna. This thrilled Anna and the Royal Council equally.

Three weeks after their return, Elsa decided they could use a quick trip back to the Ice Palace. She wanted to check that Marshmallow was okay, and just relax with Kristoff, Anna and Olaf. They packed a large picnic basket, loaded up Kristoff's wagon and headed for the North Mountain.

Elsa and Kristoff were sitting on a bench on the balcony of the Ice Palace, enjoying the early summer evening. The stars were just starting to appear in the darkening sky. He had stayed with Elsa while Olaf, Anna, and Sven were running around down in the snow having a snowball fight. Marshmallow was fine, but had passed on the opportunity to throw snow at people. He preferred to throw people at snow. Only if they were bothering Elsa, of course.

He noticed that Elsa was staring at the stars with unfocused eyes, then heard her sigh. He reached over and patted her hand, saying, "Skilling for your thoughts, Elsa?"

She started at his touch, then turned to him with a sober expression on her face. "I'm sorry for woolgathering, Kristoff. I was just thinking back to how Anna and I were on this balcony when we were swept off into that incredible journey. I'm still in awe of everything we learned. Thousands of planets with billions of people living on them? Travel between the stars as easily as we sail between continents? The existence of such evil that it can snuff out a planet and everyone on it in an instant...how is that even possible? And I can't help wondering how it all turned out. Did they escape? Did Roz recover from that blaster wound? We'll never know if it mattered." She blew out a breath in frustration.

He looked at her with his soft brown eyes and said, "Elsa, sometimes we don't get to know how we affect other people's stories. We come in to their lives for a reason, even if we don't know exactly why. We may make a difference, or not. Unless we stay to see how it ends, they go on and we just don't know. This isn't much different from that."

He took her hand in his. "Look at how you and Anna rewrote my story by becoming my friends. I don't know if I've been changed for the better, but I know I've been changed for good." He smiled shyly at her.

She nodded and smiled back at him. "I'm thinking Anna is more than a friend by now, Ice Master!" she gently teased him. He blushed.

"Well, yes, oh fearsome scary Snow Queen who I hope will be my sister-in-law..."

She laughed out loud at that comeback and playfully smacked his arm.

They sat for a few minutes more before Kristoff cleared his throat and began, "Elsa, I know the whole story now, and I admit it's pretty unbelievable. Good thing the doctor just chalked it up to magic instead of locking the two of you away for being crazy. But there's something that's changed about Anna and I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Oh?" Elsa looked at him. He was blushing an even brighter red now. What could he be talking about? She glanced down to where Anna was chasing Sven with a snowball. She squinted to see more clearly, not sure if her eyesight was deceiving her. Was that Olaf's nose in Sven's mouth?

"Yes, it seems that Anna picked up some … interesting habits … on Hoth, and it's kind of disconcerting to ..." Kristoff was interrupted by Olaf running out onto the balcony, body parts disarranged and missing his carrot nose.

"Elsa!" he stopped to huff and puff, and put his arm back where it belonged. "That motherfucking Sven is eating my fucking nose!" He looked indignantly at her for support to get it back. Elsa looked back at her little snowlem in shock.

Kristoff flinched and said, "Yeah, that's the habit."

"ANNA!"

~fin~

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

**Would you believe I wrote the entire story just to set up those last three paragraphs? No? Tsk-Tsk...**

**I was as puzzled as Anna was trying to come up with a plausible story to explain where the girls had been and what had happened to get Elsa so sick overnight, when I remembered Clarke's Third Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And Anna's dilemma was solved! LOL! Everyone in Arendelle understands magic!**

**I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. Please review if you agree!**

**The awesome cover picture of Anna and Elsa dressed as Rebel SMuRFs ("Don't ever call us soldiers!") was done by stillslightlynerdy, who is a goddess of Photoshop! Thanks, nerdy! You Da Bomb!**

**And of course, nerdy also beat me over the head with "Strunk and White" until I corrected all the bad commas and such. Any leftover mistakes are all mine!**


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